Details

ISBN-10: 0520297210
ISBN-13: 9780520297210
Publisher: University of California Press
Publish Date: 02/23/2018
Dimensions: 9.00" L, 5.90" W, 1.10" H

Charlemagne: Father of a Continent

Translator: Allan Cameron

Paperback

Price: $25.00

Overview

The most important study of Charlemagne in a generation, this biography by distinguished medievalist Alessandro Barbero illuminates both the man and the world in which he lived. Charles the Great–Charlemagne–reigned from a.d. 768 to a.d. 814. At the time if his death, his empire stretched across Europe to include Bavaria, Saxony, parts of Spain, and Italy. With a remarkable grasp of detail and a sweeping knowledge of Carolingian institutions and economy, Barbero not only brings Charlemagne to life with accounts of his physical appearance, tastes and habits, family life, and ideas and actions but also conveys what it meant to be king of the Franks and, later, emperor. He recounts how Charlemagne ruled his empire, kept justice, and waged wars. He vividly describes the nature of everyday life at that time, how the economy functioned, and how Christians perceived their religion. Barbero’s absorbing analysis of how concepts of slavery and freedom were subtly altered as feudal relations began to grow underscores the dramatic changes that the emperor’s wars brought to the political landscape. Engaging and informed by deep scholarship, this latest account provides a new and richer context for considering one of history’s most fascinating personalities.

Read More
Reviews
"[Professor Barbero] ... has a lightness of touch indispensable in approaching a subject which has constipated generations of continental scholars. He is particularly good in following through the repercussions of war down the social scale to the peasants who made up at least 90 per cent of the population. . . . Barbero is also a historical novelist, and knows how to hold the attention with arresting details."– "Spectator"
More Reviews

Details

ISBN-10: 0520297210
ISBN-13: 9780520297210
Publisher: University of California Press
Publish Date: 02/23/2018
Dimensions: 9.00" L, 5.90" W, 1.10" H
Skip to content