The Capitulare de Villis , the Brevium exempla , and the Carolingian court at Aachen

For all the scholarship done on the Capitulare de villis and the Brevium exempla , much about them remains unclear, and no new interpretations have been offered in the last few decades. This article reads the documents without some of the assumptions prevalent in previous scholarly interpretations, and alongside both the written and material record, especially the archaeological evidence from Charlemagne's properties at Aachen and throughout his realm. It argues that the Capitulare de villis and the Brevium exempla were most likely issued shortly after 794, as a result of the logistical issues introduced when Charlemagne's court became resident at Aachen.