Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the End of the Carolingian Empire (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series, Series Number 57)

by Simon MacLean

Analyzing the collapse of the pan-European Carolingian Empire in 888 (as seen through the reign of its last ruler, Charles the Fat), this study argues against the generally pessimistic views of the vitality of late ninth-century politics. Its conclusions suggest a new way of looking at the political history of the period, and offer new interpretations of aspects of early medieval kingship, government and historical writing.

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 1999

About the author

Simon MacLean is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of St Andrews. His publications include Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the End of the Carolingian Empire (2003).

Reviews

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maclean is making a case for the argument that the Carolingians did not "decline" while the aristocracy took over or as he says, arguments about the "personal inadequacies of late ninth-century kings as rulers; and about their powerlessness in the face of an increasingly independent, acquisitive and assertive aristocracy." He doesn't believe that Charles the Fat was in any way different from previous kings and his dependence on the local aristocracies was no more than that of previous rulers. The dynasty "fell" because of a confluence of circumstances mainly the lack of legitimate heirs. He makes a good, solid case though he loses me in some of the historiographic details.