Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims (d. 882) is a crucial figure for all those interested in early medieval European history in general, and Carolingian history in particular. For forty years he was an advisor to kings and religious controversialist; his works are a key source for the political, religious and social history of the later ninth century, covering topics from papal politics to the abduction of women and the role of parish priests. For the first time since Jean Devisse's biography of Hincmar in the 1970s, this book offers a three-dimensional examination of a figure whose actions and writings in different fields are often studied in isolation. It brings together the latest international research across the spectrum of his varied activities, as history-writer, estate administrator, hagiographer, canonist, pastorally engaged bishop, and politically minded royal advisor. The introduction also provides the first substantial English-language survey of Hincmar's whole career.

1. Introduction - Rachel Stone2. The bearing of Hincmar's life on his historical writing - Janet L. Nelson3. To fight with words: the case of Hincmar of Laon in the Annals of St. Bertin - Christine Kleinjung4. An unfortunate necessity? Hincmar and Lothar I - Elina Screen5. 'We are between the hammer and the anvil': Hincmar in the crisis of 875 - Clémentine Bernard-Valette6. Hincmar's influence during Louis the Stammerer's reign - Margaret McCarthy7. Hincmar and his Roman legal sources - Simon Corcoran8. 'Hincmar et la loi' revisited: on Hincmar's use of capitularies - Philippe Depreux9. The bishop and the law, according to Hincmar's Life of Saint Remigius - Marie-Céline Isaïa10. Family order and kingship according to Hincmar - Sylvie Joye11. 'The praetor does concern himself with trifles': Hincmar, the polyptych of St-Remi of Rheims and the slaves of Courtisols - Josiane Barbier12. Hincmar's parish priests - Charles West13. Heresy in the flesh: Gottschalk of Orbais and the predestination controversy in the archdiocese of Rheims - Matthew Bryan Gillis14. Hincmar, priests and Pseudo-Isidore. The case of Trising in context - Mayke de JongBibliography of primary sourcesSelect bibliography of secondary literatureIndex