HIST 200 Blood Feuds, Bishop-Saints, and a Sea Monster: The Merovingian Kingdoms
This course will examine the history of the longest-lasting post-Roman dynasty, the Merovingians, who at times claimed to be descended from a sea monster. The course will consider the political strategies that enabled the Merovingians to build the strongest post-Roman kingdom in Western Europe. After tracing their conversion to Christianity, we will also examine the growth in episcopal authority and competing models of monasticism that marked out Merovingian religious life. The course will explore the Merovingians in the context of their connections to the wider world, evident in everything from diplomatic missions to Constantinople to the garnets from India used in Merovingian jewelry. Drawing on sources including saints¿ lives, law codes, histories, art, and archaeology, we will consider how the Merovingians rose to power in the wake of the fall of Rome around the middle of the fifth century, and then lost power themselves in a coup in 751.