History and Memory in the Carolingian World

Rosamond McKitterick is Professor of Medieval History in the University of Cambridge. Her previous publications include The Carolingians and the Written Word (Cambridge University Press,1989), The Frankish Kings and Culture in the Early Middle Ages (1995) and The New Cambridge Medieval History Vol II c.700-c.900 (ed. 1995). She has presented many conference papers and lectured extensively at universities throughout Britain, continental Europe, North America and Australia. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

• 1. Introduction: history and memory in the Carolingian world; 2. Carolingian history books; 3. Paul the Deacon's Historia langobardorum and the Franks; 4. The Carolingians on their past; 5. Politics and history; 6. Kingship and the writing of history; 7. Social memory, commemoration and the book; 8. History and memory in early medieval Bavaria; 9. The reading of history at Lorsch and St Amand; 10. Texts, authority and the history of the church; 11. Christianity as history; 12. Conclusion: history and its audiences in the Carolingian world.

'This volume … raises central questions about the conscious and implicit functions of Carolingian historical texts, their setting in a broader and more fluid historical narrative, and the evidence for how they circulated. There are important demonstrations of how the manuscripts provide an amplification and a check on what a printed edition can reveal.' Institute of Historical Research