Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PART I POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
- 1 Introduction: sources and interpretation
- 2 The British Isles
- 3 Frankish Gaul to 814
- 4 The Frankish kingdoms, 814–898: the West
- 5 The Frankish Kingdoms, 817–911: the East and Middle Kingdoms
- 6 Fines Imperii: the Marches
- 7 The Vikings in Francia and Anglo-Saxon England to 911
- 8 Scandinavia, c. 700–1066
- 9 Slavs and Bulgars
- 10 The Muslims in Europe
- 11 Spain: the northern kingdoms and the Basques, 711–910
- 12 Lombard and Carolingian Italy
- 13 Byzantine Italy, c. 680–c. 876
- 14 Byzantium and the west, 700–900
- PART II GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS
- PART III CHURCH AND SOCIETY
- PART IV CULTURE AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTS
- Conclusion
- Appendix genealogical tables
- List of primary sources
- Bibliography of secondary works arranged by chapter
- Index of manuscripts
- General index
- Frontispiece">
- Plate section
- Map 4 Charlemagne’s Europe and Byzantium, 814
- Map 19 The ecclesiastical provinces of western Europe 700-900
- Map 20 Carolingian schools, scriptoria and literary centres
- Genealogical table X: Wessex
- References
6 - Fines Imperii: the Marches
from PART I - POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- PART I POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
- 1 Introduction: sources and interpretation
- 2 The British Isles
- 3 Frankish Gaul to 814
- 4 The Frankish kingdoms, 814–898: the West
- 5 The Frankish Kingdoms, 817–911: the East and Middle Kingdoms
- 6 Fines Imperii: the Marches
- 7 The Vikings in Francia and Anglo-Saxon England to 911
- 8 Scandinavia, c. 700–1066
- 9 Slavs and Bulgars
- 10 The Muslims in Europe
- 11 Spain: the northern kingdoms and the Basques, 711–910
- 12 Lombard and Carolingian Italy
- 13 Byzantine Italy, c. 680–c. 876
- 14 Byzantium and the west, 700–900
- PART II GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS
- PART III CHURCH AND SOCIETY
- PART IV CULTURE AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTS
- Conclusion
- Appendix genealogical tables
- List of primary sources
- Bibliography of secondary works arranged by chapter
- Index of manuscripts
- General index
- Frontispiece">
- Plate section
- Map 4 Charlemagne’s Europe and Byzantium, 814
- Map 19 The ecclesiastical provinces of western Europe 700-900
- Map 20 Carolingian schools, scriptoria and literary centres
- Genealogical table X: Wessex
- References
Summary
‘Have a Frank as a friend, not as a neighbour.’
Byzantine proverb. Einhard, Vita Karoli, 16a venerable historiographical tradition tells the story of the Frankish kingdoms from the perspective of the royal court. Viewed from this angle, the expansion of the Carolingian realm and the establishment of its frontiers offer a straightforward narrative of military success, interspersed with the occasional setback. Celebrated by Einhard, such a view reduces the frontiers of the Carolingian empire to insignificance, of moment only when invasion or revolt drew royal attention to them. This chapter offers an inverse picture of the Carolingian polity. It takes the reader from royal capitals and palaces to the cliffs of Brittany, the high plateaux of the Pyrenees, the mountains of southern Italy and of the eastern Alps, and the arterial waterways of the Danube and the Elbe (see Map 4). By concentrating on these outlying regions, it asks questions about the limits and limitations of Carolingian power. In studying the interaction of centre and periphery, it provides a cross-section of the Carolingian empire. By analysing ways of securing borders, asserting influence and manipulating neighbours, it highlights vital administrative and political skills. Since all political entities define themselves in part through the nature of their boundaries, ‘peripheral vision’ may assist in focusing our images of the centre.
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- The New Cambridge Medieval History , pp. 169 - 189Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995
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