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Carolingian Experiments – 2017 Annual Marco Symposium begins on Friday

Charlemagne-Dürer

The Carolingian era—best known for Emperor Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor—and its lasting impact on Europe will be the topic of the 14th annual Marco Symposium taking place on March 24–25 at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville.

Charlemagne-Dürer
Charlemagne by Dürer

The symposium will investigate how the Carolingians used cultural, intellectual, religious, social, literary, political, and military experimentation to change their world.

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“The Carolingians are one of history’s most dysfunctional families,” said Jay Rubenstein, Riggsby Director of the Marco Institute. “But despite their treachery, brutality, and astonishing hubris—or perhaps because of all these things—they reshaped the culture and destiny of Europe and the West. We will probably always live with the consequences of their experiments.”

The two-day symposium will include discussions about what experimental methodologies, theoretical approaches, and alternative literary forms today’s scholars might use to shed light on and write about the Carolingians.

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All symposium lectures on Friday, March 24, and Saturday, March 25, are free and open to the public. Most sessions will be held in the Great Room of the UT International House.

Paul Dutton, professor of history at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, will deliver the keynote address, “Four Startling Carolingian Experiments with Family,” at 5:30 p.m., March 24 in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of John C. Hodges Library.

Other papers include:

Martha Rampton, “Trafficking with Demons in the Carolingian World.”

Valerie Garver, “Did Children Know a Carolingian World?”

Matthew Gabriele, “Apocalypse Then, Prophecy Now: Looking Back, Looking Forward in Frankish Monasteries.”

The UT Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies is sponsoring the Symposium. Visit the website for more details and to see the schedule of events.

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