HST258: The Carolingians and the Birth of Europe
20 credits (semester ?)
Module Leader: Dr. Charles West
| Pre-requisites |
Pass in at least two of the Level One modules offered by the Department of History.
| Module Summary |
This module examines the crucial period which witnessed the re-emergence of a continental European empire for the first time since the fall of Rome, under the Carolingian kings of the eighth and ninth centuries. It explores the flourishing of that empire, and its subsequent transformation.
The module aims to understand the challenges faced by the Carolingians as they sought to dominate far-flung, diverse and often politically recalcitrant regions. But it also investigates the diverse means by which they met these challenges, from brute force to ideological legitimation. Exploiting the full range of source material available, the consequences of Carolingian political and social reform on the historical development of Europe will be assessed. The module also seeks to evaluate the cultural achievements of the Carolingian "renaissance" in the context of the history of literacy and education in western Europe.
| Teaching |
| Lectures | Seminars | |
| 1 | Introduction: the Franks, from barbarians to masters of Europe | Overview of the sources |
| 2 | The Carolingian coup | History as ideology |
| 3 | Carolingian territorial expansion to c.800 | Carolingian armies and the limits of expansion |
| 4 | Christmas Day, 800, and its aftermath | Comparing emperors: Charlemagne and Louis the Pious |
| 5 | Harnessing the power of the saints | The Carolingian cult of the saint and monasteries |
| 6 | The Carolingian Renaissance | The literacy controversy and the role of the written word |
| 7 | Integrating the empire | Mechanisms of integration and the Carolingian aristocracy |
| 8 | The Carolingian economy: dead or alive? | Trade, slaves and the origins of the European economy |
| 9 | The Lotharingian question: sex, magic and a royal divorce | LotharII´s body and the body politic |
| 10 | The tenth century: an age of iron? | The 'collapse' of the Carolingian empire |
| 11 | The Carolingians: false departure or new beginning? | Re-assessing the Carolingian legacy |
| Selected Reading |
- Paul Dutton, Carolingian civilisation: a reader (new edition: Peterborough, Ont., 2004) (recommended)
- Julia Smith, Europe after Rome: A new cultural history, 500-1000 (Oxford, 2005)
- Rosamond McKitterick, ed. The Early Middle Ages (Oxford, 2001)
- Joanna Story, ed., Charlemagne: empire and society (Manchester 2005) (recommended)
- Simon Maclean, Kingship and politics in the late ninth century: Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire (Cambridge 2003)
- Matthew Innes, State and Society in the middle Rhine valley, 500-1000 (Cambridge, 2000, paperback November 2006)
| Intended Learning Outcomes |
Students will:
- Acquire an understanding of the main political, social and cultural themes of the early Middle Ages.
- Be invited to re-evaluate the significance of the Carolingian period for the history of Europe.
- Develop the skills required to analyse the different types of primary source material which survive from the period and the methodological problems involved in using each of these as evidence.