Description
Book SynopsisCommemorating Power looks at how the past was evoked for political purposes under a new Saxon dynasty, the Ottonians, who came to dominate post-Carolingian Europe after 888 as the rulers of a new empire in Germany and Italy, focusing on two convents of monastic women who played a significant role in Ottonian politics.
Trade ReviewGreer has produced a detailed and insightful study on the reshaping of dynasty memory with relevance to historians of early medieval monasticisms, dynasties, and the Ottonian world writ large. * Ingrid Rembold, Early Medieval Europe *
Sarah Greer's new book makes transformative interventions in decades of scholarship on Ottonian Saxony. * Felice Lifshitz, Speculum 99/1 *
The book has well-constructed arguments and is a pleasure to read. Dr Greer includes a welcome variety of manuscripts, primary sources, and mostly English and German secondary sources. The book will be of most use to professionals and eager students of the 'face' of power, the Ottonian dynasty and the workings of early medieval monasteries. It will be a reference book for courses in early medieval studies of Europe, especially of early Germany, and for courses about memory and general historiography. * Penelope Nash, Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Commemorating power in early medieval Saxony 1: Saxon female monasticism c. 852-1024 2: The origins of Gandersheim 3: Rewriting the origins of Gandersheim 4: The origins of Quedlinburg 5: Rewriting the origins of Quedlinburg Conclusion: Ottonian convents as memorial institutions
