1st Edition

Carolingian Connections Anglo-Saxon England and Carolingian Francia, c. 750–870

By Joanna Story Copyright 2003

    The Anglo-Saxon influence on the Carolingian world has long been recognised by historians of the early medieval period. Wilhelm Levison, in particular, has drawn attention to the importance of the Anglo-Saxon contribution to the cultural and ecclesiastical development of Carolingian Francia in the central decades of the eighth century. What is much less familiar is the reverse process, by which Francia and Carolingian concepts came to influence contemporary Anglo-Saxon culture. In this book Dr Story offers a major contribution to the subject of medieval cultural exchanges, focusing on the degree to which Frankish ideas and concepts were adopted by Anglo-Saxon rulers. Furthermore, by concentrating on the secular context and concepts of secular government as opposed to the more familiar ecclesiastical and missionary focus of Levison's work, this book offers a counterweight to the prevailing scholarship, providing a much more balanced overview of the subject. Through this reassessment, based on a close analysis of contemporary manuscripts - particularly the Northumbrian sources - Dr Story offers a fresh insight into the world of early medieval Europe.

    Contents: Foreword; Preface; Introduction: evidence and interpretation; Pippin, England, and the Merovingian legacy; Bishop George and the Legates' mission to England; Chronicled connections: Frankish annals and the historia regum; Exiles and the emperor; Francia and the Mercian supremacy; Francia and the rise of Wessex; Conclusion; Appendix: Evidence of anointing in 8th-century England; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    Joanna Story

    'Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.' Choice 'Joanna Story has produced a well-researched book that engages with modern scholarship, building on others' findings as much as she revises.' The Medieval Review 'This work is revealing, relevant, and a valuable contribution to medieval history and an extremely useful addition to the corpus of texts on this period in European history.' Speculum