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Charlemagne Matthias Becher |
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Charlemagne -ruler of
the vast Matthias Becher describes Charlemagne's rise to emperor and traces
his political and military maneuvering against the Saxons, the Lombards, and others, as Charlemagne incorporated these
lands into his own realm. Becher points out that
under Charlemagne, jury courts were introduced, the laws of the Franks
revised and written down, new coinage introduced,
weights and measures reformed, and a Frankish grammar begun. Charlemagne
tried to give his kingdom a spiritual basis by referring to antique
traditions, says Becher, and he explores the
tension that existed in Charlemagne's court between modern ideas and
traditional thinking. He concludes by discussing Charlemagne's kinship
network, the evolving arrangements for his succession, the effects of his
reign, and his posthumous fame. Concise, insightful,
and eminently readable, this life of Charlemagne provides a wealth of
information about a remarkable man and his times. Matthias Becher is professor of medieval history at the Universitat Bonn, Germany. |
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