Qualifying Mediterranean connectivity: Byzantium and the Franks during the seventh century
Mischa Meier|Steffen Patzold
In the last two decades, historians researching seventh century ce have increasingly emphasized mobility, communications and connectivity across Mediterranean world that supposedly included close contacts between Franks Byzantium. These studies, however, rely often on optimistic, maximum interpretations of comparatively sparse source base, not always precisely distinguished different forms mobility connectivity. This article argues a closer examination actual cultural political consequences contact Byzantium Gaul is required, possibility discontinuity disintegration should be disregarded. our reading sources, we deliberately adopt sceptical, methodologically cautious minimal position: textual sources can interpreted as showing that, while individual, sporadic continued to exist, there was no established, continuous practice Gaul.
Early Medieval Europe