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.

Reviews

'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

1. Introduction - Rachel Stone
2. The bearing of Hincmar's life on his historical writing - Janet L. Nelson
3. To fight with words: the case of Hincmar of Laon in the Annals of St. Bertin - Christine Kleinjung
4. An unfortunate necessity? Hincmar and Lothar I - Elina Screen
5. 'We are between the hammer and the anvil': Hincmar in the crisis of 875 - Clémentine Bernard-Valette
6. Hincmar's influence during Louis the Stammerer's reign - Margaret McCarthy
7. Hincmar and his Roman legal sources - Simon Corcoran
8. 'Hincmar et la loi' revisited: on Hincmar's use of capitularies - Philippe Depreux
9. The bishop and the law, according to Hincmar's Life of Saint Remigius - Marie-Céline Isaïa
10. Family order and kingship according to Hincmar - Sylvie Joye
11. 'The praetor does concern himself with trifles': Hincmar, the polyptych of St-Remi of Rheims and the slaves of Courtisols - Josiane Barbier
12. Hincmar's parish priests - Charles West
13. Heresy in the flesh: Gottschalk of Orbais and the predestination controversy in the archdiocese of Rheims - Matthew Bryan Gillis
14. Hincmar, priests and Pseudo-Isidore. The case of Trising in context - Mayke de Jong
Bibliography of primary sources
Select bibliography of secondary literature
Index

Editors

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