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IMC 2009: Sessions

Session 706: Texts and Identities VI: Louis the Pious and the Crisis of the Carolingian Empire, 2

Tuesday 14 July 2009, 14.15-15.45

Organisers:Richard Corradini, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Philippe Depreux, Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines, Université de Limoges / Institut Universitaire de France
Maximilian Diesenberger, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Stefan Esders, Geschichte der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Steffen Patzold, Historisches Seminar, Universität Tübingen
Moderator/Chair:Stuart Airlie, Department of History, University of Glasgow
Paper 706-aCharters, Capitularies, and the So-Called Crisis of Louis's Reign
(Language: English)
Mayke de Jong, Instituut Geschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht
Paper 706-bHistrionic History, Demanding Drama: Theatrical Hermeneutics in the Carolingian Era
(Language: English)
Courtney Booker, Department of History, University of British Columbia
Paper 706-cStuck in the Middle?: Benedict of Aniane and Monastic Networks in Narratives and Charters
(Language: English)
Rutger Kramer, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Abstract

The second half of the reign of Louis the Pious is usually considered a time of crisis and of decline, in which the Frankish empire started to dissolve amid internal rebellions and external pressure. Yet the uncertainty of those times also provoked the development of new concepts for restructuring a society in turmoil. A transformation of the medieval world was thus effected, marked by an unprecedented rethinking of both the obligations of kingship and those of ecclesiastical and lay offices.
Mayke de Jong takes a critical look at the common assumption that the production rate of royal charters and capitularies relates simply to different phases of vigour (or weakness) in Louis the Pious' reign. The remarkable increase of references to drama and theatre in the sources of the Carolingian time takes centre stage in Courtney Booker's paper, promising a spell-binding middle act of this session. Rutger Kramer wraps up the proceedings by examining the role of political abbots, especially of Benedict of Aniane.