Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims (d. 882) is a crucial figure for all those interested in early medieval European history in general, and Carolingian history in particular. For forty years he was an advisor to kings and religious controversialist; his works are a key source for the political, religious and social history of the later ninth century, covering topics from papal politics to the abduction of women and the role of parish priests.
For the first time since Jean Devisse's biography of Hincmar in the 1970s, this book offers a three-dimensional examination of a figure whose actions and...