IMC 2011: Sessions
Session 1608: Texts and Identities, VI: Winners and Losers
Thursday 14 July 2011, 11.15-12.45
| Sponsor: | Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien / Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht / Faculty of History, University of Cambridge |
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| Organisers: | E. T. Dailey, School of History, University of Leeds Gerda Heydemann, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien / Institut für Geschichte, Universität Wien |
| Moderator/Chair: | Rosamond McKitterick, Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge |
| Paper 1608-a | King of the Hill: Alboin's Life, Deeds, and Tragic Death (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Political Thought |
| Paper 1608-b | Louis the Stammerer and His Family (Language: English) Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Historiography - Medieval, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Paper 1608-c | Rich and Poor in Carolingian Sermons (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Language and Literature - Latin, Sermons and Preaching |
| Abstract | This session looks at the accumulation of power and the generation of symbolical capital in the Early Middle Ages. By tracing the appropriation and use of the story of the Lombard king Alboin in various historiographical texts, Francesco Borri analyzes his rise to prominence as a textual figure with rich symbolic value; Margaret McCarthy's focus is on Louis the Stammerer's difficult path to sole rulership, and on how, in his efforts to establish his authority, strategies of legitimation were developed on which later West Frankish rulers could draw. This is complemented by a spiritual perspective: Marianne Pollheimer analyzes how Carolingian sermons evaluate the accumulation of wealth, its legitimate use, and its function as a key to social status and power. |