Carine van Rhijn

This book explores social cohesion in rural settlements in western Europe from 700–1050, asking to what extent settlements, or districts, constituted units of social organisation. It focuses on the interactions, interconnections and networks of people who lived side by side – neighbours. Drawing evidence from most of the current western European countries, the book plots and interrogates the very different practices of this wide range of regions in a systematically comparative framework. Neighbours and strangers considers the variety of local responses to the supra-local agents of landlords and rulers and the impact, such as it was, of those agents on the small-scale residential group. It also assesses the impact on local societies of the values, instructions and demands of the wider literate world of Christianity, as delivered by local priests.

This book explores social cohesion in rural settlements in western Europe from 700–1050, asking to what extent settlements, or districts, constituted units of social organisation. It focuses on the interactions, interconnections and networks of people who lived side by side – neighbours. Drawing evidence from most of the current western European countries, the book plots and interrogates the very different practices of this wide range of regions in a systematically comparative framework. It considers the variety of local responses to the supra-local agents of landlords and rulers and the impact, such as it was, of those agents on the small-scale residential group. It also assesses the impact on local societies of the values, instructions and demands of the wider literate world of Christianity, as delivered by local priests.

Starting from manuscripts compiled for local priests in the Carolingian period, this book investigates the way in which pastoral care took shape at the local levels of society. They show what illiterate lay people learned about their religion, but also what priests themselves knew. The Carolingian royal dynasty, which ruled over much of Europe in the eighth and ninth century, is well-known for its success in war, patronage of learning and its ambitious style of rulership. A central theme in their plans for the future of their kingdom was to ensure God's everlasting support, and to make sure that all inhabitants – down to the last illiterate farmer – reached eternal life in heaven. This book shows how the ideal of leading everybody to salvation was a central element of Carolingian culture. The grass-roots approach shows how early medieval religion was anything but uniform, how it encompassed all spheres of daily life and how well-educated local priests did not only know how to baptise and preach, but could also advise on matters concerning health, legal procedure and even the future. This volume is of great use to upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars interested in the ecclesiastical history of Europe in the Carolingian period.

Starting from manuscripts compiled for local priests in the Carolingian period, this book investigates the way in which pastoral care took shape at the local levels of society. They show what illiterate lay people learned about their religion, but also what priests themselves knew. The Carolingian royal dynasty, which ruled over much of Europe in the eighth and ninth century, is well-known for its success in war, patronage of learning and its ambitious style of rulership. A central theme in their plans for the future of their kingdom was to ensure God's everlasting support, and to make sure that all inhabitants – down to the last illiterate farmer – reached eternal life in heaven. This book shows how the ideal of leading everybody to salvation was a central element of Carolingian culture. The grass-roots approach shows how early medieval religion was anything but uniform, how it encompassed all spheres of daily life and how well-educated local priests did not only know how to baptise and preach, but could also advise on matters concerning health, legal procedure and even the future. This volume is of great use to upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars interested in the ecclesiastical history of Europe in the Carolingian period.