![]() ![]() Bradbury makes a good case for the last Carolingian kings not being as weak as commonly believed. It breaks down into its components the coming apart of Charlemagne’s empire. Bradbury’s methodology is sound and his work can serve as a text for medieval France.Īfter a quick glance at the Merovingians the book begins with an overview of Carolingian Francia. He uses a good balance of contemporary and modern sources to interpret important issues and occurrences. At the beginning of every chapter, he states the themes to be reviewed and at the end he gives useful summary conclusions. He relates the significance and power structures of the principalities, describing how they affect royal power. Bradbury explains the complicated kinships of the royal and noble families. It fleshes out the importance, or lack thereof, of each Capetian, reign by reign, king by king, covering such topics of inquiry as ‘the king and his realm’, ‘royal administration’ and ‘the king and the church’. The book gives an in-depth look into the reign of each king. Bradbury has a wonderful sense of humour, especially when he uses primary source material to describe the colourful details of the deaths of the various kings and noblemen. Charles died without male heirs, and so the kingship passed to a collateral line, the Valois. His text discusses the Capetian dynasty of kings, from the events that brought the family to power in the tenth century up to the death of Charles IV in 1328.
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