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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In four pages this paper examines how Barraclough questions the traditional interpretation that the Carolingian Empire period from 750-850 A.D. was the most critical in shaping the future European civilization in his text with his focus upon certain events that occurred during the ninth and tenth centuries. Three sources are cited in the bibliography.
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGcruceur.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
of molding the future European civilization. However, Medieval historian Geoffrey Barraclough takes a decidedly different view in his slim volume, The Crucible of Europe: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries
in European History, which was first published by University of California Press in 1976. Instead of focusing upon the time period in which the Carolingian Empire flourished, Professor Barraclough
instead concentrates on its period of decline during the ninth and tenth centuries. Instead of the empire itself being responsible for shaping the future of Europe, Barraclough instead points
to the various states that succeeded it, and why this hodgepodge of people and institutions emerged, and considers how this eclectic mix influenced Europes direction (Hill, 1978). Barraclough (1976) quickly
distinguishes himself from conventional historians in his view that Charlemagne was more style than substance, and that the traditional view consists primarily of "myth, which grew and was incorporated in
the famous legend of Charlemagne" (p. 56). According to the text, internal problems including Charlemagnes administrative failures and the economic inadequacies of the successive Carolingian regimes were as much
to blame for the Empires decline as were any external factors. While Professor Barraclough does acknowledge that the dream of the Carolingian Empire was a complete unification of Europe,
but the denial of the many regional differences and the steadfast refusal to embrace and incorporate such diversity ultimately undermined the Empires efforts to achieve solidarity. The text discusses
how the Carolingian Empire has been historically idealized largely as a result of Charlemagnes charismatic personality, but that it was in reality what happened during the 200-year-period following the collapse
of the realm that represents the true window into what Europe would become (Hollister, 1976). For example, Barraclough pays considerable attention to the invasions of the Saracens, Magyars, and Vikings
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