Adam and Eve
The first parents of the human race, whose story is told in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. There is no doubt that until the nineteenth century Adam and Eve were held to be historical ...
Ampulla, Holy
The Holy Ampulla was one of the principal objects in the coronation liturgy of the kings of France at Reims; it commemorated the founding miracle of Clovis's baptism in 498 ...
Andernach, battle of
(876)After the death of Emperor Louis I “the Pious” (840), the Carolingian Empire broke up into different parts, all ruled by members of the Carolingian family. Charles II “the ...
Aquitaine
A region and former province of SW France, on the Bay of Biscay, centred on Bordeaux. A province of the Roman Empire and a medieval duchy, it became an English possession by the marriage of Eleanor ...
art and architecture: Carolingian
Literally, art and architecture produced in areas ruled by a monarch of the Carolingian dynasty. Geographically, while borders were somewhat fluid, this usually included western Germany, the Low ...
Artoys
Strategically situated to facilitate trade among England, France, and the Low Countries, Artois prospered during much of the MA. By the 5th century Franks ruled the region, and by the ...
Baldwin family
Counts of Flanders. Baldwin I (r. c.863– 79) held the pagus Flandrensis (the Bruges district) and domains near Ghent from Charles II ‘the Bald’, after Baldwin’s elopement with Charles’s daughter ...
Baldwin I (Iron Arm)
(d. 879), Count of Flanders (r. 862–879).In the midst of the harsh Viking attacks of the ninth century, Carolingian kings often sought to place strong nobles in charge of ...
battle of Fontenay (Fontenoy)
(25 June 841)Major battle between the surviving sons of Louis ‘the Pious’. Charles II ‘the Bald’ and Louis ‘the German’ fought against Lothar I, who claimed (Holy) Roman imperial ...
Breda
A Dutch city in North Brabant, historically an important frontier town close to the Belgian border. The Compromise of Breda in 1566 was a league formed by Protestant and Catholic nobles and burghers ...
cabal
A group or association of political intriguers. In England in the 17th century it was a precursor of the English cabinet, but in modern times the term is applied to any political group which pursues ...
capitulary
A Carolingian legal document recording administrative procedures or legislation enacted at the annual assembly. Charlemagne issued three types of capitularies: capitula missorum, administrative ...
Carolingians
The Carolingian family left its direct mark on history from the early 7th c. until 987. In a first stage, it had acquired the political responsibilities that gradually made it ...
Chair of Saint Peter
From the 4th c., the Feast of the Chair of St Peter celebrated Peter's Roman episcopacy on 22 February. The term itself referred to the papal office and the stone ...
Compiègne
Northeast of Paris, its royal palace dated from the Merovingian era; Charles II ‘the Bald’ used it as a primary seat. It became a principal royal residence in the 10th ...
Danby, Thomas Osborne, 1st earl of, marquis of Carmarthen, and duke of Leeds
(1632–1712).Danby did not come from a leading family and at first acted as lieutenant to the 2nd duke of Buckingham. Appointed lord treasurer in 1673 to restore royal finances after the collapse of ...
Dhuoda
(fl. 824–43)Frankish aristocrat and wife of Bernard, duke of Septimania. She authored the Liber manualis (841–3), a book of religious education and practical moral advice for her absent son ...
Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite
(c.500), mystical theologian. The name given to the author of a body of theological writings to which the supporters of Severus, Patr. of Antioch, appealed in 533, attributing them to Dionysius (1) ...
Ebbo of Reims
(775–851)Born in Germany, died at Hildesheim. Ebbo became archbishop of Reims in 813 when his foster-brother Louis the Pious mounted the throne, but he made the mistake of intervening ...
