Histories of the Carolingians have focused on the region between the Seine and the Rhine, perceived to be the core of the empire. The lands south of the Loire and the Alps ruled by the dynasty, stretching from Aquitaine and Catalonia in the west to Italy and the Adriatic in the east, have generally been understood as peripheral conquered territories, of limited importance to the wider Carolingian experiment. The Franks appear in this region as an alien force, with limited long-term significance.

This book turns the Carolingian world upside down by focusing on the south. United by the Mediterranean that connected it with a wider world, the Carolingian South shaped and was shaped by both the Franks and the people they encountered.

This volume brings together an international group of historians, archaeologists and literary specialists whose subjects stretch from Muslim Spain to Jerusalem, examining the construction of Carolingian power and identity, the movement of people and ideas, and the response of the great powers of the Mediterranean beyond the empire.