Merovingian Worlds

A new history of the Merovingians exploring the period's complexity and why it is so contested in modern scholarship.

James T. Palmer (Author)

9781108493611, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 December 2024

314 pages
22.1 x 14.5 x 2.4 cm, 0.52 kg

'Arguably one the most commendable attributes of the book is that it does not fall into the time-honoured trap of Merovingian studies: placing Gregory of Tours at the centre of analysis … While the reputations of both Gregory and the Merovingians have been rehabilitated, Palmer's book is amongst the first of its scope to treat other Merovingian sources (not just historical texts) on genuinely equal footing. This is refreshing for specialists and sets a valuable precedent for newcomers alike, establishing Merovingian Worlds as an essential starting point for anyone seeking a comprehensive overview of the period.' Michaela Selway, H-Soz-Kult

The Merovingian Kingdoms (c. 450–751) dominated much of what is now France, Belgium, and Germany, and were the most powerful and long-lived of the states that transformed the inheritance of Rome after the Crisis of the Fifth Century. Yet they often remain representative of an imagined 'Dark Age', in which civility was eroded by migration, violence, illiteracy, superstition, and a retreat from globality. Through a deep exploration of manuscripts, charters, and burials, Merovingian Worlds offers a fresh account of the period, outlining its complexities, diversity and creativity. This was a world built on dynamic political, socio-economic, cultural, and religious interactions, and shaped by its wide-ranging connections from Britain and Ireland to Byzantium and beyond. The book provides a critical introduction to the rich source material and the modern debates that shaped our perception of Western Europe after the Fall of Rome.

Introduction
1. History and its historians
2. Identities and status
3. Power in the early Merovingian world (c. 450–613)
4. The rise of the shadow kings (613–751)
5. Economies, people and nature
6. Literacy and culture
7. The Frankish churches
8. Religions and the wider world
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]