Author Description

Introduction: The penitential state -- Louis the Pious (778-840) -- A boy who became a king -- Adolescentia -- The conquest of Aachen -- Dynasty -- Scapegoats and rebels -- Intermezzo -- 833 and all that -- Restoration -- The last years -- Ninth-century narratives -- The court and its narratives -- The message from inside: annals -- Imperial imagery: Einhard -- A bishop's view: Thegan -- The corridors of power: the Astronomer -- Poetic praise: Ermold the Black -- With hindsight: Nithard on Louis the Pious -- Looking back in anger: Radbert on Wala -- Admonitio, correptio, increpatio -- Criticising rulers -- The watchman in the house of Israel -- The vocabulary of admonition and sin -- Royal admonition -- Admonition from beyond the grave -- From admonitio to increpatio -- The wages of sin (828-829) -- Scapegoats: Matfrid and Hugh -- Clades: the offended deity -- The winter assembly of 828-829 -- Letters from the palace -- A penitential synod: Paris, 829 -- Purity and danger (830-831) -- The reputation of the palace -- The one and only queen -- Sexual slander -- Purity and danger -- Rebellion and restoration -- Scandal and satisfaction (832-834) -- An unexpected visitor -- Debates on the Field of Lies -- Public sin and public penance -- The bishops argue their case -- The case against the bishops -- Some observations on 833 and ritual -- Turning the tables -- Epilogue: The penitential state after Louis the Pious