Where: Building 14, Room 14E-304 (map)*
When: Tuesday, February 24 @ 5:15PM
*Directions: From the Lewis Music Library stairs, take the third floor of Building 14, through the CMS/W doors. Alternatively, take the elevator to the 3rd floor, navigate to the opposite end of the 3rd floor hallway, and enter through the CMS/W doors.
Abstract: At the end of the 8th century, the Franks under their new Carolingian kings built an empire that spanned Europe and inspired the respect of both emperor(s) in Byzantium and caliphs in Baghdad. But by the middle of the next century, the empire was in tatters. In June 841, a field outside Auxerre (in modern France) lay drenched in blood, as old friends killed one another, as brother fought brother. This talk will focus on the fateful battle of Fontenoy in June 841 and particularly the account of 1 participant – a warrior named Angelbert and the poem he wrote about the battle, detailing how an empire that seemed so secure, so tightly bound in its political and cultural consensus, could be destroyed so quickly by greed and vengeance over a disputed succession to power.
Bio: Matthew Gabriele is Professor of Medieval Studies in the Department of Religion & Culture at Virginia Tech. His research and teaching cover the European Middle Ages, ideas of religion and violence, as well as nostalgia and apocalypse. He has written for The Washington Post, CNN, Smithsonian Magazine, and MSNBC, among others, and interviews with him have appeared on outlets such as The History Channel, in The New York Times, and on NPR. He’s the author and editor of several academic books and nearly two dozen articles. In addition, he’s the author, with David M. Perry, of The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe (Harper Books, 2021), and most recently Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers that Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe (Harper Books, 2024).