The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World
The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least well known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany, and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Roman inhabitants and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture.

The forty-six essays included in this volume highlight why the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The essays demonstrate that the inhabitants of the Merovingian kingdoms in these centuries created a culture that was the product of these traditions and achieved a balance between the world they inherited and the imaginative solutions they bequeathed to Europe. The Handbook highlights new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era by showing that Merovingian Gaul was situated at the crossroads of Europe, connecting the Mediterranean and the British Isles with the Byzantine empire, and it benefited from the global reach of the late Roman Empire. It tells the story of the Merovingian world through archaeology, bio-archaeology, architecture, hagiographic literature, history, liturgy, visionary literature and eschatology, patristics, numismatics, and material culture.
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The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World
The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least well known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany, and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Roman inhabitants and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture.

The forty-six essays included in this volume highlight why the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The essays demonstrate that the inhabitants of the Merovingian kingdoms in these centuries created a culture that was the product of these traditions and achieved a balance between the world they inherited and the imaginative solutions they bequeathed to Europe. The Handbook highlights new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era by showing that Merovingian Gaul was situated at the crossroads of Europe, connecting the Mediterranean and the British Isles with the Byzantine empire, and it benefited from the global reach of the late Roman Empire. It tells the story of the Merovingian world through archaeology, bio-archaeology, architecture, hagiographic literature, history, liturgy, visionary literature and eschatology, patristics, numismatics, and material culture.
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The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World

The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World

The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World

The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World

Hardcover(New Edition)

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Overview

The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least well known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany, and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Roman inhabitants and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture.

The forty-six essays included in this volume highlight why the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The essays demonstrate that the inhabitants of the Merovingian kingdoms in these centuries created a culture that was the product of these traditions and achieved a balance between the world they inherited and the imaginative solutions they bequeathed to Europe. The Handbook highlights new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era by showing that Merovingian Gaul was situated at the crossroads of Europe, connecting the Mediterranean and the British Isles with the Byzantine empire, and it benefited from the global reach of the late Roman Empire. It tells the story of the Merovingian world through archaeology, bio-archaeology, architecture, hagiographic literature, history, liturgy, visionary literature and eschatology, patristics, numismatics, and material culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780190234188
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 09/10/2020
Series: Oxford Handbooks
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 1168
Product dimensions: 6.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 2.20(d)

About the Author

Bonnie Effros, Professor and Head of the Department of History, University of British Columbia; Isabel Moreira, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Utah.

Bonnie Effros is Professor and Head of the Department of History at the University of British Columbia.

Isabel Moreira is Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Utah.

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsAbbreviations List of ContributorsMap of Merovingian GaulMerovingian Family Tree
Introduction
1. Pushing the Boundaries of the Merovingian WorldBonnie Effros and Isabel Moreira
PART I MEROVINGIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY2. From Gaul to Francia: The Impact of the MerovingiansPaul Fouracre3. Writing the History of Merovingian Gaul: An Historiographical SurveyAgnès Graceffa4. Two Centuries of Excavating Merovingian-Era Cemeteries in FranceBonnie Effros
PART II EXPRESSING IDENTITY5. Transformations of Identities: Barbarians and Romans in the Merovingian RealmMagali Coumert6. Migrants and Minorities in Merovingian GaulWolfram Drews7. Human Remains and What They Can Tell Us about Status and Identity in the Merovingian PeriodAndrea Czermak8. Gender in Merovingian GaulGuy Halsall9. Children's Lives and Deaths in Merovingian GaulÉmilie Perez
PART III STRUCTURES OF POWER10. The Merovingian Polity: A Network of Courts and CourtiersYitzhak Hen11. Elite Women in the Merovingian PeriodEdward James12. The Military and Its Role in Merovingian SocietyLaury Sarti13. Corporate Solidarity and Its Limits within the Gallo-Frankish EpiscopateGregory Halfond14. Public Health, Hospitals, and CharityPeregrine Horden15. Merovingian Monasticism: Voices of DissentAlbrecht Diem
PART IV MEROVINGIAN GAUL IN A WIDER CONTEXT16. The Merovingians and Byzantium: Diplomatic, Military, and Religious Issues, 500-700Stefan Esders17. The Movement of People and Things between Britain and France in the Late- and Post-Roman PeriodsRobin Fleming18. De gente Scottorum monachi: The Irish in Merovingian Settlement StrategyJean-Michel Picard19. "Alors commença la France": Merovingian Expansion South of the Loire, 495-510Ralph W. Mathisen20. The Merovingians, the Avars, and the SlavsMatthias Hardt21. The Merovingians and Italy: Ostrogoths and Early LombardsJonathan J. Arnold
PART V MEROVINGIAN WRITTEN CULTURE22. The History of Historiography in the Merovingian PeriodHelmut Reimitz23. Merovingian Legal CulturesAlice Rio24. Merovingian HagiographyJamie Kreiner25. Letters and Communication Networks in Merovingian GaulAndrew Gillett26. Merovingian Epigraphy, Frankish Epigraphy, and the Epigraphy of the Merovingian World.Mark Handley
PART VI MEROVINGIAN LANDSCAPES27. The Role of the City in Merovingian FranciaS. T. Loseby28. The Fate of Small Towns, Hilltop Settlements, and Elite Residences in Merovingian-Period GaulLuc Bourgeois29. The Fate of Late-Roman Villas in Southern Gaul between the Sixth and Seventh Centuries.Alexandra Chavarría Arnau30. Merovingian Religious Architecture: Some New ReflectionsPascale Chevalier31. Rural Life and Work in Northern Gaul during the Early Middle AgesEdith Peytremann32. Good and Bad Plants in Merovingian FranciaPaolo Squatriti33. Livestock and the Early Medieval Diet in Northern GaulJean-Hervé Yvinec and Maude Barme
PART VII ECONOMIES, EXCHANGE, AND PRODUCTION34. Maritime and River Traders, Landing Places, and Emporia Ports in the Merovingian Period in and around the Low CountriesDries Tys35. The Evidence of Numismatics: "Merovingian" Coinage and the Place of Frankish Gaul and Its Cities in an "Invisible" Roman EmpireJürgen Strothmann36. Bead and Garnet Trade between the Merovingian, Mediterranean, and Indian WorldsConstantin Pion, Bernard Gratuze, Patrick Périn, and Thomas Calligaro37. Merovingian Gaul and the Mediterranean: Ceramics and TradeMichel Bonifay and Dominique Pieri38. Long-Distance Trade and the Rural Population of Northern GaulFrans Theuws39. Belt Buckles and Burials in Southwestern GaulRalph J. Patrello
PART VIII THE SUPERNATURAL AND THE AFTERLIFE40. Amulets and Identity in the Merovingian WorldGenevra Kornbluth41. Magic and Divination in the Merovingian WorldWilliam E. Klingshirn42. Visions and the AfterlifeIsabel Moreira43. Inscribed in the Book of Life: Liturgical Commemoration in Merovingian GaulEls Rose44. Liturgy and the LaityLisa Kaaren Bailey45. The Life of PenanceKevin Uhalde46. Merovingian Meditations on JesusLynda Coon
Index
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