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History Extra podcast

Carolingians in crisis: the medieval civil war that shaped Europe

History Extra podcast

Immediate Media

History

4.34.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

History is full of dysfunctional families, but few more so than the Carolingian ruling clan. The empire was at the height of its power under renowned ruler Charlemagne. But just two generations later, in the year 841 AD, his grandsons were locked in a vicious contest for power and control. This jockeying culminated in the bloody pitched battle of Fontenoy – a key moment in a civil war that shattered an empire and reshaped Europe, according to Professor Matthew Gabriele and David M Perry in their new book, Oathbreakers. David Musgrove spoke to them to find out more about the shocking aftermath of this crisis. (Ad) Matthew Gabriele and David M Perry is the author of Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe (HarperCollins, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oathbreakers-Brothers-Shattered-Empire-Medieval/dp/0063336677/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The Carolingian king Lothar II was embroiled in a scandal that destroyed his reign and ended his kingdom – Professor Charles West shares the story: https://link.chtbl.com/v2GgAvSP. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:33.7

Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.

0:43.4

History is full of dysfunctional families, but few more so than the Carolingians.

0:50.1

Their empire was at the height of its power under renowned ruler Charlemagne.

0:58.5

But only two generations later, in the year 841 AD,

1:04.1

Charlemagne's grandsons were locked in a vicious contest for power and control.

1:09.4

This jockeying culminated in the bloody pitched battle of fontenoir, a key moment in a civil war that shattered an empire

1:13.1

and reshaped Europe. Professor Matthew Gabriel and David M. Perry are the authors of a new book

1:19.7

on this, Oath Breakers. David Musgrove spoke to them to find out more about the shocking aftermath

1:25.4

of this crisis. The first voice you'll hear from

1:28.5

is Matthew Gabriel explaining what happened at the Battle of Fontenois. So we start off with

1:35.1

the Battle of Fontenois, which is just a little bit southwest of the city of Oxyre and modern France.

1:40.6

It's a small little village nowadays, and even in the 840s, it wasn't anything

1:45.4

particularly significant. We talked a little bit about maybe why the battle took place there.

1:50.2

It was pretty close to Oksair itself had a very important monastery, important bishopric.

1:54.7

But basically what happened is it's a civil war. Civil war erupts among the grandsons of Charlemagne,

2:02.5

you know, about the fate of the empire.

...

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