Oathbreakers The war of brothers that shattered an empire and made Medieval Europe

After the fall of Rome, centuries passed before the Franks dominated central Europe, stretching their nascent empire south into the Italian peninsula. Rewarding Charlemagne's defense of the pope, he was crowned emperor in 800. The "Holy Roman Empire" reached a state of peace, however tenuous. But Charlemagne's heirs had greater ambitions. The empire fell into civil war, as sons fought fathers and one another. This set the stage for Europe's Middle Ages. Historians Gabriele and Perry (The Bright Ages, 2022) plumb resources from the era to narrate the story of these internecine struggles. Readers may at times be perplexed by so many characters with the same names, distinguished by qualifiers: the Short, the Pious, the Hunchback, and such. While women often faded into the background, the authors note the roles of a few wives, daughters, and even empresses such as Irene, who looked to reunite the Eastern empire with the Carolingian. This is a serious, meticulous history that will also appeal to Game of Thrones fans, who will discover intriguing parallels between history and fiction.

Vicious family feuds, destabilizing coups, and brutal violence were the reigning values of the ninth-century Frankish Empire, according to this intricate account. Historians Gabriele and Perry, coauthors of The Bright Ages, begin with Pepin the Short, who seized power in what they suggest, contrary to anodyne royal annals, was a bloody coup. They move on to Pepin's storied son Charlemagne, who snuffed out another coup plot led by his son Pepin the Hunchback. Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious ruled next, and the bulk of the narrative deals with rebellions that his sons Lothar, Pepin of Aquitaine, and Louis the German launched over their status as subordinate kings and their antagonism toward their stepmother, Judith. Lothar inherited the throne after his father's death but faced yet more family-backed rebellions (Louis the German again, plus a son of Judith's), which eventually led to the breaking up of the empire. Through subtle readings of biased chronicles and documents, Gabriele and Perry dispel the romantic aura of the Carolingian era, depicting it as an entertaining but gruesome medieval picaresque of power-hungry plots, murders, and--stomach-churningly--blindings. The authors also shrewdly explore the Franks' genuine belief in the sacredness of kingship--and especially of royal oaths--that kept such a violent system in motion. The result is an enlightening portrait of the medieval mindset. (Dec.)

When brothers got medieval on each other. Historians Gabriele and Perry did so well withThe Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe that they have followed it with a narrower focus on the ninth century. Perhaps the best-known figure of that era is Charlemagne (reigned 768-814), who assembled much of Europe into the largest empire since Rome's and had himself crowned by the pope in 800. Charlemagne ruled alone, mostly, because his brother died three years after the pair took the throne. This followed family tradition that gave every ruler's son power even while he reigned and divided the kingdom after his death. Charlemagne's successor, Louis the Pious (ruled 1814-1840), took the throne as the only surviving son, but he already had three adult sons, and a fourth was soon born. This guaranteed trouble. Louis gave his three sons kingly authority over three parts of the empire, but they complained, quarreled, and occasionally took up arms. Matters did not improve when his fourth son reached maturity and received a share of the empire deducted from the others. During much of Louis' reign, the empire verged on civil war; at one point, he was deposed. Months after his death, the brothers fought the bloody battle of Fontenoy, which solved nothing, soon followed by the 843 Treaty of Verdun, laying out the bounds of each brother's kingdom. A dead letter from the start, it led to more quarrels and treaties that carried on into following centuries, gradually resolving into what later historians maintain was France and Germany. Lively writers, the authors cast a critical eye on the surviving sources, delivering a painless education on how historians try to determine what actually happened from fragmentary and wildly biased accounts. A scholarly and entertaining history of warring brothers. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.