Hans J. Hummer. Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm, 600-1000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. xiv + 299 pp. $85.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-521-85441-2.

Reviewed by Julie A. Hofmann (Department of History, Shenandoah University)
Published on H-German (January, 2007)

Alsace as Outlier

In this work, Hans Hummer presents a clear, concise study of the roles played by the local nobility, the Carolingian family and monastic foundations in the exercise of both local and royal power. Although the main title, like that of others in this series, implies a more general approach, the book instead focuses on one geographic area. Nevertheless, the book demonstrates a mastery of the subject, sources and methodological approaches that makes it an important addition to the growing body of scholarship on power in the early Middle Ages.

Hummer's introduction is a typical review of the scholarship of early medieval government and a discussion of the particular sources for his subject. Little new information is presented here, but Hummer presents the familiar in a way that not only reminds his audience of what has gone before, but also lays out the major issues in a form that makes the familiar seem almost new. Of particular interest is his straightforward discussion of precarial and prestarial grants, which lays the groundwork for future chapters.

The first chapter of the book, "The Late Merovingian Order," sets the stage for the rest of Hummer's analysis. After an initial review of the reasons for and importance of monastic sponsorship by magnate families in terms of amassing local political power and influence, Hummer moves the discussion to the particulars of local power and monastic foundations in Alsace. Hummer focuses on four important families, the Pippinids, the Gundoins, the Wolfoald-Gundoins and the Etichonids. Although some of his examples may be familiar--for instance, the relationship of the Pippinids Itta and Gertrude to the foundation of Nivelles--the author demonstrates that re-evaluating these examples can add much more to our knowledge of local politics in Alsace.

In his second chapter, "Conquest and Continuity," Hummer explores the actions of the Carolingians in Alsace and the relatively peaceful integration of the area into their kingdom. He clearly demonstrates that this accommodation was in part due to the strong roots laid down by the Pippinids. More interestingly, he argues that earlier scholars may have overestimated the levels of opposition to the Carolingians held by local families like the Rodoins, who were members of the extended Wolfoald-Gundoin kin-group.

Hummer's discussion of the Carolingians' use of ecclesiastical property donations in the third chapter is less fluid in both its prose and organization than the previous chapters. To a large extent, this derives from the nature of the subject matter. No author could make a detailed examination of various types and uses of precarial grants riveting; however, he skillfully integrates the descriptions with specific examples of their use by the Carolingians and, to a lesser extent, the local nobility. Most compelling is Hummer's analysis of the results of Carolingian policies and his assertion that the family consciously used the laws and formulae to assert its power in ways that undermined the authority of the local nobility.

Not surprisingly, resistance of locals to both the precaria verbo regis and the precarial census is the subject of the next chapter. Here, it is clear that the Carolingians' success was linked to the support of the clergy who ultimately benefited from such grants. Although the level of prosopographical detail might be somewhat daunting for those unfamiliar with this type of approach, Hummer again provides a useful overview and analysis. One must, however, be prepared to process a great deal of information to follow his arguments.

More accessible is the next chapter, "The Politics of Old German." Here, Hummer explores the influence of the Carolingians on a growing use of the vernacular for ecclesiastical purposes, especially in pedagogy. Although Hummer claims that such uses of the written vernacular may have crystallized in the Alsace, he provides ample discussion of its development and royal sponsorship in other parts of eastern Francia, as well as the importance of Fulda in its success. Hummer also relates in some detail the background to the Heliand and the Genesis (ca. 825). Arguing against more commonly held opinion, Hummer provides some convincing evidence that Louis the Pious was responsible for commissioning both works.

Focusing on the activities of the then-resurgent Etichonids and other Alsatian kin-groups, Hummer next presents his version of the strife-filled reigns of Louis the Pious and his sons. Using the rich documentary tradition of the monastery at Weissenburg, the author deftly demonstrates the interactions between these nobles and the ebb and flow of their influence as royal power in the area changed hands and the power of individual kings waxed and waned. The ties between the local nobility and the complex landholding relationships built between the nobles and ecclesiastic foundations, described to such great extent in previous chapters, help to support Hummer's claim that, despite the struggles for primacy among the Carolingian kings, Alsace was able to remain comparatively stable throughout the period.

The last two chapters of the book describe the reassertion of the local nobility's power in the ninth century and the effects of tenth century reform movements on this process. Building on his previous arguments, Hummer shows that monastic patronage remained a fundamental means to political power and influence through the ninth century. Patronage and the use of existing ties to monastic foundations by local nobles and their kin, many of whom were firmly entrenched in the monastic leadership, allowed families like the Etichonids to increase their own power and prestige as the Carolingians fought among themselves. In the tenth century, however, various reform movements weakened the bonds between the local kin-groups and the monasteries, resulting in a gradual loss of that hard-won power and prestige. Both of these chapters present strong and coherent arguments, but the connection between Hummer's general picture and the specific evidence shown in his Alsatian examples is not always as clear as one would like.

Hummer remedies some of these problems in his conclusion, which not only recapitulates his main points, but also presents Alsace as part of a series of case studies that seek to revise many of our ideas of Carolingian kingship and how it played out in some regions. This approach is at once challenging and insightful. The other books Hummer ties to his own work are Matthew Innes' sometimes problematic State and Society in the Early Middle Ages (2000) and Warren Brown's Unjust Seizure (2001), case studies for the Middle Rhine and Bavaria. While many of Hummer's reasons for studying Alsace are based on the idea that it was something of an outlier in terms of the exercise of royal power and the influence of local kin-groups, both of the other books reveal similar patterns in their own areas. The result is that three putative exceptions to the preceding rule of scholarly opinion seem to have much in common. As a body of scholarship they demonstrate that such in-depth local studies can greatly enrich our understanding of Carolingian politics and that strategies in the Carolingian east in general may have been different from those in the west.

The shortcomings of the volume are few and far between when compared to the wealth of well-presented and -argued information in the book. The volume also fills a gap in the existing literature. Hummer presents a strong synthesis of new information and a reassessment of existing German- and English-language works that touch on the area. It is an important work for anyone studying the period.

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Citation: Julie A. Hofmann. Review of Hummer, Hans J., Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm, 600-1000. H-German, H-Net Reviews. January, 2007.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12743

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