This study is a vital reassessment of neglected medieval ruler King
Carloman, who is so often found in the shadow of Charlemagne. Te
information we have about him, transmitted by the Carolingian narrative
texts or documents, has rarely been investigated before now.
Marco Stoffella draws on a wide range of sources including letters,
charters and diplomas to show that Carloman played a central political
role in the Frankish kingdom which he ruled for three years. Stoffella
suggests that it was Carloman, not Charlemagne, who was the Frankish
king who married Gerberga, the Lombard princess. This emerging
hypothesis leads to a reconsideration of further aspects of both
Carloman's and Charlemagne's early careers.
Evidence from minor annals that have been relatively disregarded until
now, together with a fresh scrutiny of Pippin's and Carloman's diplomas,
suggests that it was possibly Carloman rather than Charlemagne who was
Pippin's first-born son. Following this interpretation, Carloman,
Charlemagne and Dynastic Rivalries in the Eighth Century reflects on
the extent and successfulness of Carolingian royal and imperial
propaganda which re-shaped the early stages of Charlemagne's career,
stressing his authority and blaming Carloman and his followers for the
conflicts that emerged in Francia and in Italy between 768 and 771. The
pro-Charlemagne sources even obscured the fate of the young king, and
completely ignored the destiny of his wife and children. These new
findings and arguments are expertly framed here and are of huge
significance to our understanding of Charlemagne's conquest of the
Lombard kingdom and policy south of the Alps.
