Rethinking Authority in the Carolingian Empire

This book offers new interpretations of contemporary theories of correctio, and shows the self-awareness of its main instigators as they pondered what it meant to be a good Christian in a good Christian empire.

Kramer Rutger :

Rutger Kramer is currently a post-doctoral researcher within the project Visions of Community (FWF Austrian Science Fund F42) at the Institute for Medieval Research in Vienna.

"In his superb new monograph, Rutger Kramer investigates the origins and manifestations of the striking, consequential self-consciousness of the Carolingian episcopate and argues that it developed during the early years of Louis the Pious's reign. [1] [...] Explicit references to Carolingian self-consciousness appear on nearly every page of Kramer's study. What Kramer shows with astonishing clarity is the extent to which the "Carolingian experiment" was characterized by--indeed, was constituted by--a constant watching, and the implications of this surveillance."
- Courtney M. Booker, The Medieval Review, 21.08.26 (2021)

"There is much to admire here. Kramer’s extensive research is reflected in the copious bibliography. [...] Kramer is clearly aware of the limitations of both his sources and his methodology, but he is also very attuned to the possibilities that this kind of case-study approach might offer."
- Laura Wangerin, Church History, Vol. 91, Iss. 3