Pushing the Boundaries of the Merovingian World

Long overshadowed by historiographical traditions that dismissed these centuries as an era of decline, or transition, the Merovingian period has emerged as a field of study in its own right. At the intersection of many different fields of study including textual analysis, archaeology, environmental study, and insights drawn from new scientific techniques, we are able to see the inhabitants of Merovingian Gaul in new ways and in the context of a larger world of connections and influences—from Europe to Byzantium—and as a destination of trade routes from across the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. We see the contribution of new ideas from abroad, the diversity of peoples active in Merovingian Gaul, communication, administration, and the law. Archaeology allows us to discern the Merovingian-built environment, providing a better understanding of life in cities and in the countryside, and of connections to trade and supply. Excavations at religious sites provide context for the religious practices and spiritual environment enshrined in religious texts and devotional works, revealing the changing aesthetic environment. These perspectives enhance and refine traditional views about religious groups and the church, Christian practice, orthodoxy, spiritual life, death, and the afterlife. Far from viewing the period as one of decline or stagnation, new scholarly approaches are opening up the field of Merovingian studies to a new era of vitality.