Politics and Texts in Late Carolingian Europe, c. 870–1000
Monday 8th – Tuesday 9th July 2013, University of St Andrews
The Carolingian dynasty (751–987) ruled the last pan-European
empire of the middle ages, a territory spanning over one million square
kilometres at its height. In the late ninth century, however, this
empire began to disintegrate, and the tenth century has long been
depicted as a period of cultural and political decline. This two-day
conference will explore the relationship between political authority and
textual production in Europe during the late ninth and tenth
centuries. It aims to contribute to a body of research which is
increasingly bringing into question traditional notions and assumptions
about the collapse of the Carolingian empire. This will be the first
British conference devoted specifically not only to this subject, but
also to this period. It will provide a forum for leading specialists,
young researchers and postgraduate students from around the world to
share ideas and forge new contacts in a friendly yet rigorous
intellectual environment. By drawing together recent research about the
interaction between written texts and attempts to exert political
authority from across the late/former Carolingian world, this event
promises to make a significant contribution to our understanding of
this formative but neglected period of European history.
