Alright fantasy fans, have I got a book for you! A history book that takes non-fiction and gives the “truth is stranger than fiction” saying a solid ring of truth. Well, I don’t know about stranger, but the truth is definitely fantastic. This tightly woven tale of the end of the Carolingian Empire rivals the drama of A Game of Thrones. Our tale starts with Charles the Great, or Charlemagne as he is better known. It details his rise to power, his crowning by the pope in Rome as emperor in an effort to bring legitimacy back to Western Europe, and his passing on of the crown to his son, Louis the Pious. Louis the Pious then has three sons who proceed to fight not only among themselves for control of the empire, but with their father as well. This long, protracted civil war finally ends with a split empire and the beginning of what would eventually become medieval France, Germany, and more. There are many, many personas involved in this history (like a heavy character list for an epic fantasy). To make it more confusing, many of these people had the same name. There are a bunch of Louis, Pepin, Charles, and then other names that are either strange or archaic in sound. Some of the names are distinguished with descriptors, like Charles the Bald, to make it a little easier on the reader, but still, a lot to keep track of.
The historians paint an excellent picture of the times with economic alacrity. They emphasize the influence of faith and superstition the writers of the time imposed upon their works, while also acknowledging the strictures and demands placed upon them. Everything written during this time period, late 700s to late 800s, was considered public. So anyone writing letters, histories, or accounts was very aware that anyone could end up reading them. That had to make sure they weren’t going to write something self incriminating. Many times, a chroniclers job was to control the story to make their sovereign look good. So the historians job to parse out the difference between what was written and what was meant can become quite convoluted.
Some other points brought up in the book was how jaded and nationalistic 19th century historians were about this period in time. They often tried to paint this era as a struggle between Frank and Arab, Christian and Muslim, but that just wasn’t true. Most of the time is was the Franks fighting themselves and using various Muslim rulers as allies against their opponents, or places of refuge away from their opponents.
Warfare was quite different. Most of the time, armies were mustered, brought to an agreed upon field, and showed off. After it was determined who would logically win such a conflict beforehand, a winner would be predetermined and everyone would go home. So other than skirmishes and raids, there weren’t too many large scale blood baths. This is contradicted with a harsh system of legal judgment, where is was quite regular for someone to be blinded as penance, and then later die of their wounds. What is revealed in these pages, is that a real change came to Europe when the battle for Fontenoy occurred between the three kings, sons of Louis the Pious, and various nobles. This was the changing point for blood spilled, and true civil war to erupt. This is where managed bloodshed turned into massacre The details are in the telling, and they are fascinating.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this little slice of history. I also think any fan of historical or fantasy literature will greatly enjoy this as well.
