Session Abstract

The study of emotions in history is a vibrant and growing field. This session will further the study of emotions in European history by focusing on a key period, the Carolingian Age, in particular the ninth century. The rise to power of the Carolingians, which culminated in the reigns of Charlemagne and his successors, created cultural centers where the heritage of pagan and Christian antiquity met the diverse traditions of northwestern Europe. The treatment of emotions in textual and pictorial remains from the period can reveal important aspects of that process, in spite of the methodological difficulties of dealing with sources that were always created for complex personal, political and religious purposes. The three papers in this session will tackle those methodological issues head on as they assess the interplay of representation and reality in texts and images from ninth-century Europe.