First glorified as the Saviour of Christendom and then vilified as an enemy of the Church, Charles Martel's career has been written and rewritten from the time of his descendents. This important new study draws on strictly contemporary sources to assess his real achievements and offers new insights into a fascinating period.

This short study in English of Charles Martel, the Frankish ruler who was first glorified as Savior of Christendom and then vilified as enemy of the Church assesses Martel's real achievements and suggests that during Martel's rise to power he was the beneficiary, rather than the agent of, social cultural change. In the process, the author demonstrates how recent scholarship has demolished Martel's role in the development of the Feudal system.

The volume consists of sixteen papers on the history of Francia between the seventh and eleventh centuries. Originally published between 1979 and 2009, the papers are arranged around three interlinking themes: the relationship between History and Hagiography, the history of Francia under the respective regimes of the Merovingan and Carolingian kings, and the problem of how states with weak governing institutions were able to exercise power over large areas. The history of Francia has been one of the most productive areas of early medieval history over the past two generations. Models of European development have been based on its rich materials and the fact that the polity lasted for half a millennium makes it a prime area for the study of the dialectic between continuity and change. The papers collected here all have this 'big history' as their background. It is to be hoped that keying into such questions makes them both accessible and useful for students and teachers alike.

The most up-to-date research in the period from the Anglo-Saxons to Angevins. This volume of the Haskins Society Journal furthers the Society's commitment to historical and interdisciplinary research on the early and central Middle Ages, especially in the Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Angevin worldsbut also on the continent. The topics of the essays it contains range from the curious place of Francia in the historiography of medieval Europe to strategies of royal land distribution in tenth-century Anglo-Saxon England to the representation of men and masculinity in the works of Anglo-Norman historians. Essays on the place of polemical literature in Frutolf of Michelsberg's Chronicle, exploration of the relationship between chivalryand crusading in Baudry of Bourgeuil's History, and Cosmas of Prague's manipulation of historical memory in the service of ecclesiastical privilege and priority each extend the volume's engagement with medieval historiography, employing rich continental examples to do so. Investigations of comital personnel in Anjou and Henry II's management of royal forests and his foresters shed new light on the evolving nature of secular governance in the twelfth centuries and challenge and refine important aspects of our view of medieval rule in this period. The volume ends with a wide-ranging reflection on the continuing importance of the art object itself in medieval history and visual studies. Contributors: H.F. Doherty, Kathryn Dutton, Kirsten Fenton, Paul Fouracre, Herbert Kessler, Ryan Lavelle, Thomas J.H. McCarthy, Lisa Wolverton, Simon Yarrow.

In early Christianity it was established that every church should have a light burning on the altar at all times. In this unique study, Eternal light and earthly concerns, looks at the material and social consequences of maintaining these 'eternal' lights. It investigates how the cost of lighting was met across western Europe throughout the whole of the Middle Ages, revealing the social organisation that was built up around maintaining the lights in the belief that burning them reduced the time spent in Purgatory. When that belief collapsed in the Reformation the eternal lights were summarily extinguished. The history of the lights thus offers not only a new account of change in medieval Europe, but also a sustained examination of the relationship between materiality and belief. -- .

This book is a collection of original essays on gift in the early Middle Ages, from Anglo-Saxon England to the Islamic world. Focusing on the languages of gift, the essays reveal how early medieval people visualized and thought about gift, and how they distinguished between the giving of gifts and other forms of social, economic, political and religious exchange. The same team, largely, that produced the widely cited The Settlement of Disputes in Early Medieval Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1986) has again collaborated in a collective effort that harnesses individual expertise in order to draw from the sources a deeper understanding of the early Middle Ages by looking at real cases, that is at real people, whether peasant or emperor. The culture of medieval gift has often been treated as archaic and exotic; in this book, by contrast, we see people going about their lives in individual, down-to-earth and sometimes familiar ways.

This pioneering volume illuminates the practice of giving, endowing and exchanging gifts in the early Middle Ages, from Anglo-Saxon England to the Islamic world. Focusing especially on the language associated with medieval gift giving, this important new work examines how people visualized and thought about gift giving and, importantly, how they distinguished between the giving of gifts and other social, economic, political and religious exchanges. The authors demonstrate that gift giving was already complex, distinctive and sometimes contentious before the twelfth century and operated within a broad international context. They draw from the sources a deeper understanding of the early Middle Ages by looking at real cases and real people: peasants, the elderly and women, as well as elites. The culture of medieval gift has often been treated as archaic and exotic; this book, by contrast, reveals people going about their lives as individuals in down-to-earth and sometimes familiar ways.

This collection of highly original essays by leading early medieval historians honours the work and career of Dame Janet (Jinty) Nelson, one of the most respected and influential scholars of her generation. The essays build on the spirit of Janet Nelson's work by linking the study of Francia with at least one other area or general theme of early medieval history. The papers range across all of the regions of Europe affected by Frankish culture and explore themes which reflect the cutting edge of the work she inspired: memory, queenship, the treatment of prisoners of war, penance, the use of property, historiography, palaeography, prosopography, religious organization. The volume includes an appreciation of her career, and is rounded off by a topical index to highlight its thematic aspects. -- .

Isidore of Seville (560-636) was a crucial figure in the preservation and sharing of classical and early Christian knowledge. His compilations of the works of earlier authorities formed an essential part of monastic education for centuries. Due to the vast amount of information he gathered and its wide dissemination in the Middle Ages, Pope John Paul II even named Isidore the patron saint of the Internet in 1997. This volume represents a cross section of the various approaches scholars have taken toward Isidore's writings. The essays explore his sources, how he selected and arranged them for posterity, and how his legacy was reflected in later generations' work across the early medieval West. Rich in archival detail, this collection provides a wealth of interdisciplinary expertise on one of history's greatest intellectuals.

This is a collection of original essays on the relationship between property and power, a fundamental theme in medieval history. It addresses four main issues: the meaning of power over property; the ways in which property conveyed power; the nature of immunities; and the power of royal authority to affect property relations. The areas studied include Wales, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Byzantium, and the essays range across the period 650-1150. A substantial introduction is included, which explains the nature of the issues, and a conclusion expresses the team's overall view of the subject. Aimed at a wide readership of both scholars and students, the volume also includes a glossary to help readers who may be unfamiliar with the material or the period.

This is a collection of original essays on the relationship between property and power, a fundamental theme in medieval history. It addresses four main issues: the meaning of power over property; the ways in which property conveyed power; the nature of immunities; and the power of royal authority to affect property relations. The areas studied include Wales, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Byzantium, and the essays range across the period 650-1150. A substantial introduction is included, which explains the nature of the issues, and a conclusion expresses the team's overall view of the subject. Aimed at a wide readership of both scholars and students, the volume also includes a glossary to help readers who may be unfamiliar with the material or the period.

This is a collection of original essays on the settlement of disputes in the early middle ages, a subject of central importance for social and political history. Case material, from the evidence of charters, is used to reveal the realities of the settlement process in the behaviour and interactions of people - instead of the prescriptive and idealised models of law-codes and edicts. The book is not therefore a technical study of charters evidence. The geographical range across Europe is unusually wide, which allows comparison across differing societies. Frankish material is inevitably prominent, but the contributors have sought to integrate Celtic, Greek, Italian and Spanish material into the mainstream of the subject. Above all, the book aims to 'demystify' the study of early medieval law, and to present a radical reappraisal of established assumptions about law and society.

This collection of documents in translation brings together the seminal sources for the late Merovingian Frankish kingdom. It inteprets the chronicles and saint's lives rigorously to reveal new insights into the nature and significance of sanctity, power and power relationships. The book makes available a range of 7th- and early 8th-century texts, five of which have never before been translated into English. It opens with a broad-ranging explanation of the historical background to the translated texts and then each source is accompanied by a full commentary and an introductory essay exploring its authorship, language and subject matter. The sources are rich in the detail of Merovingian political life. Their subjects are the powerful in society and they reveal the successful interplay between power and sanctity, a process which came to underpin much of European culture throughout the early Middle Ages. -- .

In early Christianity it was established that every church should have a light burning on the altar at all times. In this unique study, Eternal light and earthly concerns, looks at the material and social consequences of maintaining these 'eternal' lights. It investigates how the cost of lighting was met across western Europe throughout the whole of the Middle Ages, revealing the social organisation that was built up around maintaining the lights in the belief that burning them reduced the time spent in Purgatory. When that belief collapsed in the Reformation the eternal lights were summarily extinguished. The history of the lights thus offers not only a new account of change in medieval Europe, but also a sustained examination of the relationship between materiality and belief. -- .

The first volume of The New Cambridge Medieval History covers the transitional period between the later Roman world and the early middle ages, c. 500 to c. 700. This was an era of developing consciousness and profound change in Europe, Byzantium and the Arab world, an era in which the foundations of medieval society were laid and to which many of our modern myths of national and religious identity can be traced. This book offers a comprehensive regional survey of the sixth and seventh centuries, from Ireland in the west to the rise of Islam in the Middle East, and from Scandinavia in the north to the Mediterranean south. It explores the key themes pinning together the history of this period, from kingship, trade and the church, to art, architecture and education. It represents both an invaluable conspectus of current scholarship and an expert introduction to the period.

The publication of The New Cambridge Medieval History is a major landmark in the field of historical publishing. Written by leading international scholars and incorporating the very latest research, the History will become the essential reference tool for anyone interested in the medieval world. The original Cambridge Medieval History was published between 1911 and 1936, with a new edition of Volume 4 appearing in the 1960s. That famous series is now out of print, and is being replaced by The New Cambridge Medieval History which will present a reliable, detailed history from late antiquity to c.1500. To be published in seven volumes, with volume 4 divided into two parts, it will provide a unique, authoritative guide to medieval life and thought.