The politics of dreaming in the Carolingian empire
Paul Edward Dutton
Between the reigns of Charlemagne and Charles Fat, Europe underwent a series alarming unsettling changes. Civil war broke out, royal authority was divided, brightest men women began to entertain nightmarish thoughts corruption collapse their world. Amidst ruin shaken shattered assumptions, Carolingian intellectuals wrote down dream texts. The oneiric record, though dark with confusion immoderate emotion, supplies us more subjective reading this formative period European history than one found in standard histories. dream-authors criticized complained because they hoped reform society that had lost its way. This study begins by surveying sleep kings status dreams from classical ninth century. Then it runs an examination individual political disruption informs them. reader will encounter variety surprising dreams: Charlemagne's lust, demons archangels, sorrowful prophet, disputed property bullying saints, magical swords mad princes, Fat's journey through awesome otherworld towards uncertain constitutional future.
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