Power and violence in the reign of Charles the Bald

• Grant number: 19/10287-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2019
• End date: June 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Cândido da Silva
• Grantee: Isabela Alves Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this project is to analyze fundamentals of the authority of Charles the Bald, through the relation between royal power and violence. That period was durably interpreted as an epoch of weakening of the royal authority. However, contemporary authors that dealt with the matter of the use of legitimate violence in the kingdom affirmed a capacity proper to the king to use violence. This ability of the ruler would be justified, for example, to comply functions such as to protect the kingdom and the Christian faith; to restore order in society and to punish or revenge unauthorized uses of violence. In this way, it is possible to observe the development, in the middle of the ninth century, of an affirmation of the power by means of a dynamics between legitimate and illegitimate violence that does not correspond to the one from the Modern State. At the same time, it is possible to interrogate arguments on the debility of authority, in the ninth century. In the sources of The Four Books of Histories, from Nithard (843), of the Dhuoda's Handbook (843) and of The Annals of Saint-Bertin (882), that discuss conflicts internal to the kingdom of Charles, I intend to analyze how the matter of violence is semantically presented and organized, in order to denote differences to the treatment of the royal violence. From this, I aim to detach which fundamentals are associated to the royal power in order to justify that distinction. Finally, I intend to analyze comparatively the exposition of the sources on this theme: so that I can formulate an overall view of the documents regarding the relation between royal authority and violence under Charles the Bald, and to interrogate interpretations on the monarchical debility of that period. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SILVA, Isabela Alves. Power and political violence in the reign of Charles the Bald. 2022. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD) São Paulo.