The Carolingian world of Dudo of Saint-Quentin

Truth, plausibility, and the virtues of narrative at the millennium

“…76 Dudo was educated in the schools of northern Francia (perhaps at Liè ge), and his training in rhetoric must have been similar to that offered at Reims. 77 Not coincidentally, his work shares many important features with the Historiae. The rhetorical techniques of exaedificatio d speechwriting, dialogue, and, a highly ornate prose style d pervade Dudo's history.…”

Time and identity in Stephen of Rouen'sDraco Normannicus

“…Most recently, Leah Shopkow has argued that Stephen's view of history is cyclical: an eventual Norman decline and fall, which he may suggest in his depiction of Normandy's failure to achieve full independence from the kings of France, is only one instance among many of the rise and fall of great civilisations. 25 This is a distinctly less triumphant view of time and Norman identity, one that Shopkow specifically associates with the later twelfth century in Norman historical writing. Furthermore, Stephen's 'failure of imagination' in the Draco was, in her view, a failure to make the contemporary events he treats seem as glorious as the Norman past, because of a change, and decline, in an independent Norman identity overall.…”

Royal Power in the Late Carolingian Age: Charles III the Simple and His Predecessors

“…137 This means that networks are dynamic structures which develop over time and which may become fragile up to the point of breaking even under the occurrence of only minor pertubances. 138 Therefore, when analysing networks the focus has to be set on the nature of the relations between the different actors, 139 or in the case of this study, on those between a ruler and the nobles in contact with him. Only by analysing these in regard to continuity, intentionality and quality can the position of an individual within a network be determined.…”