Making Ends Meet: Wealth and Poverty in the Carolingian Church
Janet L. Nelson
In the early ninth century, Frankish Church was unashamedly, triumphantly, rich. The Franks were assured that God loved them. Thanks to intercessions of churchmen, had promoted expansion Empire: in a world social relations organized and expressed through exchange gift countergift, it seemed only fair God, or rather his on behalf, should share profits. ‘Give tithes Lord’, Smaragdus urged young Carolingian king: ‘He subjected many realms you, commanded powerful peoples serve you’.
Studies in Church History