The period between 770 and 880 experienced an explosion of words signalling the documentary reawakening of Western civilization; this anthology offers a plentiful and engaging selection of primary source documents from that vibrant era.

Among the material new to this second edition are Rimbert's Life of Anskar, with its detailed account of the Carolingian missionary contact with Scandinavia, Ratramnus's study of the dog-headed men, the monk Bernard's Journey to Jerusalem, new specimens of popular beliefs, Audradus Modicus's complete Book of Revelations, and new...

Among the readings included are several existing letters by Emma (Einhard's wife), The Life of Charlemagne, and The History of His Relics. The latter work transports us into an almost unknown world as Einhard, the cool rationalist, arranges for a relic salesman, a veritable bone seller, to acquire saints' relics from Italy for installation into his new church. The reader is taken on an intrigue-filled trip to Rome, where Einhard's men creep into churches at night to steal bones and then spirit them away to Einhard in the north. The relics are received in town after town as if...