MÉLANGES - MENGELINGEN

LOUIS THE PIOUS AND HIS PIETY RE-RECONSIDERED

The rather homely word 're-reconsidered' appears in my title because, twenty- two years ago as these words are written there appeared in History an article by one of the most eminent Carolingianists, F. L. Ganshof, entitled 'Louis the Pious Reconsidered' ('). In that article Ganshof undertook to correct the overwhelmingly negative scholarly judgment on Louis by pointing to a number of concrete achievements which took place during the reign of the second Carolingian emperor. Ganshofs article, though brief, is important, even though it might be argued that it is more of a reassessment of the years 814 to 840 than of Louis himself. In other words, Ganshof does not always make it clear whether he feels that Louis was responsible, directly or indirectly, for the accomplishments of these twenty-six years. In the present paper I propose to do two things. First, I shall follow up on Ganshofs article by noting briefly significant contributions concerning Louis that have been published since 1957. There are, I hope to show, good reasons for providing even a hasty summary of this scholarship. Second, I believe I can offer a few fresh perspectives for evaluating Louis' character, that is, in large part, his piety. Louis ruled longer as emperor than any other Carolingian, and he was the last of his family of rule in any meaningful way over the whole of the Imperium Francorum. The volume of scholarschip from both sides of the Atlantic in recent years suggests strongly that there exists a lively interest in the Carolingian period. If this is true then one need offer no apology for attempting, even in a preliminary way, to come to grips with the reign of Louis the Pious.

Ganshofs interest in Louis antedates 1957 and in a number of articles published since then he has gained greater clarity and precision for his ideas (2).