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2 - CONQUEST AND CONTINUITY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2009

Hans J. Hummer
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
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Summary

For contemporaries, the story of Carolingian expansion was largely a tale of conquest. From the reign of Charles Martel on, chroniclers trained a steady eye on the Carolingians' relentless subjugation of the territories beyond the Frankish heartlands of Neustria and Austrasia. To Carolingian military pressure succumbed Alemannia (730, 742–6), Aquitaine (731–6, 760–8), Bavaria (725, 728, 743, 749, 788), Brittany (786, 799), Burgundy and Provence (732–6), Frisia (734) and Saxony (720–4, 738, 747, 753, 758, 772–804). Modern treatments of the period, taking their cue from the chronicles, also have made military success central to the story of Carolingian expansion. Because these conquests often left in their wake a residue of documents drawn up to defend rights and claims, the territories beset by the Carolingians have presented the points of departure for a range of insightful studies which have illuminated the processes by which the Carolingians absorbed conquered territories.

Alsace, a territory brought under Carolingian control peacefully, allows us to view Carolingian expansion from another angle, from the perspective of the family's affective, rather than military, power. In contrast to the many regions where high-handed conquest left triumphant Carolingians in a dominant position to impose peace, in Alsace Carolingian power – itself generated and sustained by an impressive network of family monasteries – flowed easily into the channels of power etched out by local monasteries and kin-groups.

Type
Chapter
Information
Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe
Alsace and the Frankish Realm, 600–1000
, pp. 56 - 75
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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  • CONQUEST AND CONTINUITY
  • Hans J. Hummer, Wayne State University
  • Book: Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe
  • Online publication: 16 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497209.004
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  • CONQUEST AND CONTINUITY
  • Hans J. Hummer, Wayne State University
  • Book: Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe
  • Online publication: 16 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497209.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • CONQUEST AND CONTINUITY
  • Hans J. Hummer, Wayne State University
  • Book: Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe
  • Online publication: 16 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497209.004
Available formats
×