Charlemagne's Practice of Empire [Hardcover]

A new interpretation of Charlemagne, examining how the Frankish king and his men learned to govern the first European empire.The Frankish king Charlemagne conquered most of Western Europe and then had to learn how to govern this vast new empire. The practices of rulership that Charlemagne and his men invented created a new style of politics which shaped subsequent medieval history and helped form Europe as we know it.The Frankish king Charlemagne conquered most of Western Europe and then had to learn how to govern this vast new empire. The practices of rulership that Charlemagne and his men invented created a new style of politics which shaped subsequent medieval history and helped form Europe as we know it.Revisiting one of the great puzzles of European political history, Jennifer R. Davis examines how the Frankish king Charlemagne and his men held together the vast new empire he created during the first decades of his reign. Davis explores how Charlemagne overcame the two main problems of ruling an empire, namely how to delegate authority and how to manage diversity. Through a meticulous reconstruction based on primary sources, she demonstrates that rather than imposing a pre-existing model of empire onto conquered regions, Charlemagne and his men learned from them, developing a practice of empire that allowed the emperor to rule on a European scale. As a result, Charlemagne's realm was more flexible and diverse than has long been believed. Telling the story of Charlemagne's rule using sources produced during the reign itself, Davis offers a new interpretation of Charlemagne's political practice, free from the distortions of later legend.Introduction; Part I. Strategic Rulership: Introduction: tools of control and coercion; 1. Managing royal agents; 2. Disciplining royal agents; 3. Fractured control: Charlemagne's response to dissent; Conclusion: control and its limits; Part II. Center and Region in Charlemagne's Empire: Introduction: unity and diversity in Charlelƒz