Wipo – After Empire

A revitalization of the Carolingian general oath of loyalty under Salian rule?

March 20, 2018Stefan EsdersResearch BlogCarolingians, Conrad II, Feudalisation, Fidelity, Fiscal Property, Henry IV, Liberty, Loyalty, Oaths, Salians, Wipo

In the Carolingian period, general oaths of fidelity like those sworn under Charlemagne, Louis the Pious or Charles the Bald created a direct personal bond between the adult male free population and the Carolingian ruler and his family. This has always been taken as indicating a comparatively high degree of statehood, as the oaths had…

A Reminiscence of Carolingian oath practice in Wipo’s “Deeds of Conrad II”

‘Charles’s stirrups hang down from Conrad’s saddle’. For the first ruler of the Salian dynasty, Conrad II (1024‒1039), to whom this proverb refers, Carolingian traditions mattered a great deal: Conrad reportedly visited Aachen soon after his election to take possession of Charlemagne’s throne and to emphasise his family’s Frankish roots. But the author of this…

After Empire

Using and Not Using the Past in the Crisis of the Carolingian World, c. 900-1050

Tag: Wipo

A revitalization of the Carolingian general oath of loyalty under Salian rule?

A Reminiscence of Carolingian oath practice in Wipo’s “Deeds of Conrad II”