This book explores the Merovingian kingdoms in Gaul within a broader Mediterranean context. Their politics and culture have mostly been interpreted in the past through a narrow local perspective, but as the papers in this volume clearly demonstrate, the Merovingian kingdoms had complicated and multi-layered political, religious, and socio-cultural relations with their Mediterranean counterparts, from Visigothic Spain in the West to the Byzantine Empire in the East, and from Anglo-Saxon England in the North to North-Africa in the South. The papers collected here provide new insights into the history of the Merovingian kingdoms by examining various relevant issues, ranging from identity formation to the shape and rules of diplomatic relations, cultural transformation, as well as voiced attitudes towards the "other". Each of the papers begins with a short excerpt from a primary source, which serves as a stimulus for the discussion of broader issues. The various sources' point of view and their contextualization stand at the heart of the analysis, thus ensuring that discussions are accessible to students and non-specialists, without jeopardizing the high academic standard of the debate.

AcknowledgementsList of ContributorsList of AbbreviationsMaps Introduction, Pia Lucas and Tamar Rotman Part 1: The wider world: Setting the context of the post-Roman world1. History, geography and the notion of mare nostrum in the early medieval WestYitzhak Hen 2. True differences: Gregory of Tours' account of the Council of Mâcon (585)Helmut Reimitz Part 2: Mediterranean ties and Merovingian diplomacy3. East and West from a Visigothic perspective: How and why were Frankish brides negotiated in the late sixth century Anna Gehler-Rachunek 4. Friendship and diplomacy in the Histories of Gregory of ToursHope Williard 5. Private records of official diplomacy: The Franco-Byzantine letters in the Austrasian Epistolar CollectionBruno Dumezil 6. The language of sixth-century Frankish diplomacyYaniv Fox Part 3: Bridging the Seas: Law and religion 7. Mediterranean Homesick Blues: Human trafficking in the Merovingian legesLukas Bothe 8. The Fifth Council of Orléans and the reception of the Three Chapters controversy in Merovingian GaulTill Stüber 9. Reconciling disturbed sacred space: The ordo for "reconciling an altar where a murder has been committed" in the Sacramentary of Gellone in its cultural context.Rob Meens 10. Imitation and rejection of Eastern practices in Merovingian Gaul: Gregory of Tours and Vulfilaic the Stylite of TrierTamar Rotman Part 4: Shifting Perspectives: Emperors, tributes and propaganda11. Magnus et verus christianus: The portrayal of Emperor Tiberius II in Gregory of ToursPia Lucas 12. When contemporary history is caught up by the immediate present: Fredegar's proleptic depiction of Emperor Constans II Stefan Esders 13. Byzantium, the Merovingians, and the hog: A passage of Theophanes' Chronicle revisitedFederico Montinaro Conclusion, Yitzhak Hen and Stefan Esders Index