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  • The Politics of Memory and Identity in Carolingian Royal Diplomas: The West Frankish Kingdom (840–987) by Geoffrey Koziol
  • Herwig Wolfram
The Politics of Memory and Identity in Carolingian Royal Diplomas: The West Frankish Kingdom (840–987). By Geoffrey Koziol. [Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, 19.] (Turnhout: Brepols. 2012. Pp. xx, 661. €100,00. ISBN 978-2-503-53595-1.)

After reading Geoffrey Koziol’s latest book, this reviewer would like to turn to the audience, especially his French colleagues, and exclaim, voici, une merveilleuse histoire de la France ou plutôt de la Francia occidentalis de 840 à 987—although this remark would only correspond to its subtitle. This work represents the author’s passionate plea for the relevance of diplomatics and Urkundenforschung in contemporary medieval studies. For a great many scholars, this plea is not really new, as their training encompassed the use of formal diplomatics as well as charters for writing full-fledged history in the vein of Marc Bloch’s ogre of the fairy tale. So any historian of what is now Austria or Bavaria in the early-medieval period would be at a loss without charters. But Koziol’s endeavor is not one of “reinventing the wheel.” Instead, this book builds a bridge between medievalists who understand the importance of charters and diplomas and those who do not.

Koziol’s book offers some fine observations such as those discussing the reason for the lack of the libri confraternitatum or libri memoriales in Western Francia (see, for example, pp. 270, 332) and the role of the placita (see esp. pp. 340–43, 347). To settle disputes amicably, placita often served as performative acts (to use the author’s concept). More often than not, two litigants stood up in court after they had been assigned the roles of winner and [End Page 134] loser well in advance. Sometimes they functioned in favor of a third person (called complacitatio). The winner could even belong to the lower strata of society, who for some reason had found the support of high-ranking dignitaries or even the king. Koziol rightly points out that these procedures did not necessarily prove an “even-handed Carolingian justice” (p. 347). These placita must not, however, be considered as “sham courts”; instead, the necessary ritual was really performed and the symbols applied represented something real to the participants. Above all, any royal diploma could be impeached; the verdict of a placitum was unimpeachable. The author also well portrays Charles III’s use of diplomas, which displayed his endangered and finally diminishing royal power. The most beautiful Carolingian diplomas were issued by his chancery especially at the beginning of his reign.

Koziol has produced a great book, although it is unfortunate that three historians rather different in age, scope, and vision have been lumped under the label sceptical diplomatists (p. 484n96). Readers may recall that the author wrote the earlier book Begging, Pardon, and Favor. Ritual and Political Order in Early Medieval France (Ithaca, NY, 1992). It is to be hoped that another two decades will not pass before Koziol’s next installment appears.

Herwig Wolfram
University of Vienna
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