Hincmar of Rheims: Life and Work

Description

Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims (d. 882) is a crucial figure for all those interested in early medieval European history in general, and Carolingian history in particular. For forty years he was an advisor to kings and religious controversialist; his works are a key source for the political, religious and social history of the later ninth century, covering topics from papal politics to the abduction of women and the role of parish priests. For the first time since Jean Devisse's biography of Hincmar in the 1970s, this book offers a three-dimensional examination of a figure whose actions and writings in different fields are often studied in isolation. It brings together the latest international research across the spectrum of his varied activities, as history-writer, estate administrator, hagiographer, canonist, pastorally engaged bishop, and politically minded royal advisor. The introduction also provides the first substantial English-language survey of Hincmar's whole career. -- .

Rachel Stone is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at King's College, London Charles West is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Sheffield -- .

'Its fourteen contributors seek, in distinct but complementary ways, to draw together Hincmar's life and work in order to understand better not only the man himself, but also the late Carolingian world which is so often evoked through his writings.' Ingrid Rembold, Hertford College, University of Oxford, Early Medieval Europe Vol. 25 Issue 2 'The editors are to be commended for bringing together a set of perceptive and well-researched studies (ninety-three pages of endnotes in 288 pages of text with an uncommonly detailed index) that ask the right questions and will prompt new thinking about one of the Carolingian age's great figures.' H-France Review -- .