Royal Marriage Alliances in the Carolingian Empire

ISBN-13: 9781472586834 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 208 str.

Helen Oxenham; Ian Wood

Opis

"Royal Marriage Alliances in the Carolingian Empire" is a concise guide to marriage practices and alliances in the Frankish kingdoms during the period of Carolingian rule in Europe, AD 751 987. Taking into account previous scholarship on the subject, assumptions which have been applied to the era from investigation of an individual reign or region are re-evaluated.

The book illuminates the patterns underlying marriage practices through a comprehensive survey of the period. After depicting the political and geographical background of the Carolingian Empire and placing marriages in their historical context, a brief survey sets forth those Carolingians who married or who failed to marry, before examining the reasons for and against marriage, the methods by which betrothals and marriages were formed, what happened over the course of a marriage, and what happened when, through death, divorce or annulment, a marriage came to an end.

Elucidating the reasons and circumstances surrounding royal marriage alliances, and examining the ways in which marriage alliances affected both members of the partnership, "Royal Marriage Alliances in the Carolingian Empire" is an original, diachronic study of the role of marriage in political history and gender in royal marriages in this historical era."

Spis treści

Acknowledgments Abbreviations List of tables 1. Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 The Development of Marriage 1.3 Aims 1.4 Current Historiography 1.5 The numbers 2. Reasons for and against Marriage 2.1 Heirs 2.2 In-laws: Land and Support 2.3 Political Roles and Networking 2.4 Asserting an Agenda, Rebellion, and Control 2.5 Failed Engagements, Marriages which probably Did Not Take Place, and Concubines 2.6 Conclusions 3. What Did Marriage Involve? 3.1 Age at Marriage 3.2 Full Marriage, Coronation, and Consecration 3.3 Marriage out of the Royal Family 3.4 Ability to Act 3.5 Queens' Scandals and Kings' Concubines 3.6 Status of the Family 3.7 Women, and Men in the Female Line 3.8 Conclusions 4. After Marriage 4.1 How Did Marriages End? 4.2 Widows 4.3 Regents and Underage Sons 4.4 Remembrance 4.5 Conclusions 5. Royal Marriage Alliances in the Carolingian Empire: Some Conclusions Appendix: A Table of Carolingians Bibliography Index