Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Proceedings of the Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Vol. 3 (1967)
Summary: François Ganshof examines how the rulers of the Carolingian Empire negotiated and concluded diplomatic agreements between 751 and 887. Drawing on surviving treaties, royal annals and chronicles, he investigates the different forms of agreements made with neighbouring peoples and rulers, including the Saxons, Vikings, Byzantines and Muslim powers, as well as treaties between members of the Carolingian dynasty. Ganshof distinguishes between acts of submission imposed upon defeated peoples and genuine treaties involving mutual obligations, examining the roles of ambassadors, oaths, hostages, written documents and diplomatic ceremonies. Particular attention is given to Charlemagne’s negotiations with the Byzantine Empire, which culminated in an agreement recognising the coexistence of eastern and western imperial authority. The study demonstrates how Carolingian diplomacy combined military power, political negotiation and established legal practices to maintain peace, establish alliances and regulate relations between medieval kingdoms and empires.
Top Image: The opening page of Nithard’s History of the Sons of Louis the Pious, preserved in a manuscript dating from around the late tenth or early eleventh century. Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Latin 9768, fol. 1r.
Treaties of the Carolingians
By Francois L. Ganshof
Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Proceedings of the Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Vol. 3 (1967)
Summary: François Ganshof examines how the rulers of the Carolingian Empire negotiated and concluded diplomatic agreements between 751 and 887. Drawing on surviving treaties, royal annals and chronicles, he investigates the different forms of agreements made with neighbouring peoples and rulers, including the Saxons, Vikings, Byzantines and Muslim powers, as well as treaties between members of the Carolingian dynasty. Ganshof distinguishes between acts of submission imposed upon defeated peoples and genuine treaties involving mutual obligations, examining the roles of ambassadors, oaths, hostages, written documents and diplomatic ceremonies. Particular attention is given to Charlemagne’s negotiations with the Byzantine Empire, which culminated in an agreement recognising the coexistence of eastern and western imperial authority. The study demonstrates how Carolingian diplomacy combined military power, political negotiation and established legal practices to maintain peace, establish alliances and regulate relations between medieval kingdoms and empires.
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Top Image: The opening page of Nithard’s History of the Sons of Louis the Pious, preserved in a manuscript dating from around the late tenth or early eleventh century. Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Latin 9768, fol. 1r.
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