Past Convictions: The Penance of Louis the Pious and the Decline of the Carolingians

434 Pages·2009·4.192 MB·English

by  Courtney M. Booker

Past Convictions
THE MIDDLE AGES SERIES
ruth mazo karras, series editor
edward peters, founding editor
A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher.
Past Convictions
Th e Penance of Louis the
Pious and the Decline of
the Carolingians
Courtney M. Booker
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia
Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Medieval Academy of
America
Copyright © 2009 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or schol-
arly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without
written permission from the publisher.
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Booker, Courtney M.
Past convictions : the penance of Louis the Pious and the decline of the Carolin-
gians / Courtney M. Booker.
p. cm. — (Th e Middle Ages series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8122-4168-6 (alk. paper)
1. Louis I, Emperor, 778–840. 2. Louis I, Emperor, 778–840—Historiography.
3. France — Kings and rulers — Biography. 4. France — History — To 987. I. Title.
DC74.B66 2009
944'.01092—dc22 2009017735
[B]
For Susan

contents
introduction 1
PART I
REMEMBERING
chapter one
Telling the Truth About the Field of Lies 15
chapter two
Th e Shame of the Franks 68
chapter three
Histrionic History, Demanding Drama 104
PART II
JUSTIFYING
chapter four
Documenting Duty’s Demands 129
viii contents
chapter five
Forgotten Memories 183
PART III
DISCOURSING
chapter six
Eloquence in Equity, Fluency in Iniquity 213
epilogue: convictions past and present 247
appendix 257
list of abbreviations 265
notes 273
select bibliography 387
index 405
acknowledgments 417