For 1400 years Gregory's Histories--the principal work of Merovingian history--have been understood as a "history of the Franks" and as an objective portrayal of history, albeit told by a naive narrator. This completely new interpretation of the Histories reveals connections between apparently unconnected, adjacent chapters, and also begins to make out their real function. Gregory (538-594) can be seen as focusing on the development of a socio-political concept of society, which anticipates the leadership of the Christian state entrusted to the joint government of bishops and king.

This work, originally published in German, documents and describes just how extensively crucial personal and social bonds influenced political life in Europe in the Early and High Middle Ages. Political life in the Middle Ages was significantly influenced by the bonds people had to one another, and the bonds of kinship, friendship and lordship were by far the most important. Gerd Althoff, a renowned medieval scholar, demonstrates how the nature and importance of these bonds changed, as did the rules and norms which governed them.

This work, originally published in German, documents and describes just how extensively crucial personal and social bonds influenced political life in Europe in the Early and High Middle Ages. Political life in the Middle Ages was significantly influenced by the bonds people had to one another, and the bonds of kinship, friendship and lordship were by far the most important. Gerd Althoff, a renowned medieval scholar, demonstrates how the nature and importance of these bonds changed, as did the rules and norms which governed them.