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A testimony of C arolingian rule? The C odex epistolaris carolinus , its historical context, and the meaning of imperium
Author(s) -
van Espelo Dorine
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
early medieval europe
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1468-0254
pISSN - 0963-9462
DOI - 10.1111/emed.12018
Subject(s) - reinterpretation , context (archaeology) , meaning (existential) , statement (logic) , history , value (mathematics) , political science , philosophy , computer science , epistemology , law , aesthetics , archaeology , machine learning
In the preface to the C arolingian collection of papal letters, known as the C odex epistolaris carolinus , the word imperium is used in the context of describing what is in the collection. In this article, I shall argue that a reinterpretation of the preface's statement about what imperium refers to will shed a different light on the CC as a collection in its entirety. What imperium refers to exactly can be debated, yet studying the C odex carolinus as a C arolingian product of its time, in combination with a reappraisal of its preface, may help to understand the source's historical context and its value to the C arolingian court. As I hope to demonstrate, the CC was an essentially purposeful collection, which underlined the shared history of the C arolingian family and the papacy in R ome.