The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World

The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Romans and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture and identity. As a result, the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Yet in these centuries, the inhabitants of the Merovingian kingdoms created a culture that was the product of these traditions and achieved a balance between the world they inherited and the imaginative solutions that they bequeathed to Europe. Situated at the crossroads of Europe, connecting northern Europe with the Mediterranean and the British Isles with the Byzantine empire, Merovingian Gaul also benefitted from the global reach of the late Roman Empire. In this collection of 46 essays by scholars of Merovingian history, archaeology, and art history, we encounter the new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era.