The Carolingians : A Family Who Forged Europe

This book tells the story of the Carolingian dynasty which reigned over the Frankish Kingdom which is modern day France and the Rhineland of Germany. Starting with the earliest ancestors of Pippin II (Pippin of Herstal 635-714 C.E. [Current Era]), the book really gets going with the life of Charles Martel (The Hammer) (688 C.E.- 741 C.E.), one of the illegitimate sons of Pippin II who contested for power with the legitimate grandson of Pippin II in the Frankish Kingdom following the death of Pippin II. Charles Martel won this struggle and proceeded to establish his line of the family as the "royal line." Martel's son Pippin III (Pippin the Short) followed Charles Martel to the Frankish throne in 741 when he reigned together with his brother and reigned alone after 751 as the first actual Carolingian "King of the Franks" until his death in 768 C.E.The most famous King of the Franks, Charles I or Charlemagne reigned as King after the death of his father Pippin the Short. However, in the most remembered date of the History of the Middle Ages, December 25, 800 C.E., Charlemagne was crowned "Emperor of the newly restored "Roman Empire" which now took the name "Holy Roman Empire." Charlemagne's Empire was expanded to include all of modern day France and most of modern day Germany and also northern Italy.This empire was too big to held together by anyone other than Charlemagne and after his death in 814, and following the tumultuous reign of Charlemagne's son--Louis II (The Pious) (778-840 C.E.), the Empire was divide between Louis the Pious' grandsons--Charles the Bald (823-877 C.E.) and Louis the German (810-876 C.E.). Thus, began the downfall of the Carolingian Dynasty. The book continues on to describe the rise of the First Reich under Otto I (The Great, 912-973 C.E.) in the eastern part of Charlemagne's empire, which continued to be the Holy Roman Empire, and the book continues on to describe the rise of Hugh Capet, (941-996 C.E.) in the western part of Charlemagne's empire. Hugh Capet became the first king of the new "Capetian Dynasty" of area that would become modern France.During my undergraduate days, I took a course on the history of the Early Middle Ages, which I found very interesting. Only recently have I begun again to study this period of time. This book has much more in depth into that time than anything that I studied as a undergraduate. However, the book is far from being dull or foreboding. On the contrary the book continued to draw me in and would not let me go until I finished the book.

Pierre Riché established his reputation as one of France's leading medieval scholars with works exactly like this. Reading only the first chapter makes it easily possible to understand the scholarship of this man: the book presents a rich detail that is supported with a wealth of primary and secondary source documents. The book, as it's title implies, is an examination of each of the members of the Carolingians (looking at them as a royal line), with whole sections of the text dedicated to Pippin, Loius the Pious, Charles the Bald, and, of course, Charlemagne himself. The book is divided into six sections, divided by history (the rise of the Carolingian family, the reign of Pippin II and Charlemagne, the pre- and post- Treaty of Verdun period, Carolingian collapse, and the rise rulers in the New Europe), but within each section is a detailed and scholarly discussion that focuses on each of the Carolingian family members who made up the clan. Scholarly, however, does not imply dry or inaccessible: this book is a wonderful read, with clear and interesting writing that highlights the subject matter as one progresses through the text. It is a fascinating read, and easily earns a five star rating.A note on translation ...Although this book was originally written by Pierre Riché in French, this translation by Allen is excellently done, and is free of any of the difficult sentence structures that so frequently plague lesser French to English translations. The text of the book is clearly and exactingly crafted, and I presume that it is very loyal to the original French while simultaneously presenting an excellent English version. You should not hesitate at all on this book if you are simply concerned about translation issues. This is an excellently done translation.

Interesting & answers many questions of history

Great book.

It only has three stars, not for the subject. The translation is rather poor. I think the subject and the information is very well researched out. I would like to see this translated by another. The words seem to dumb down the original. I have never studied a modern language (Latin/Greek). I have read many translated works. There is something lacking here. it too bad.

Riche's treatment of the Carolingian dynasty and era is masterful, and towers above other such treatments. Beginning with the late Merovingian kings and the slow rise of the Carolingians, and ending with the establishment of the new regional dynasties this book covers almost three hundred years of history in dramatic fashion. Riche focuses on who the Carolingians were as persons and as rulers, giving his descriptions of events a feeling of real truth. At the same time, Riche rises above merely writing a narrative history. Woven into the story of the Carolingians is much academic discussion of policies, administration, linguistics, economics, military science and technology. Riche goes so far as to end the book with an eighty-page discussion of Carolingian society, focusing on the Church, the features of kingship, economics, and the "Carolingian Renaissance."For those of you wary of Romance-language scholarship, know that the book does lack notes, but the sources are clearly stated within the text. As far as translation goes, this is the best French-into-English translations out there.Given that there is only one map, it would be a good idea to get a historical atlas to accompany this book.