Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald by Janet L Nelson, 264 pages

Charles the Bald, the youngest son of Louis the Pious and a grandson of Charlemagne, has often been regarded as the first French king, even as he has often been characterized as a weak ruler who squandered his inheritance and empowered an increasingly assertive aristocracy.  In Janet Nelson's account of his life, however, he is understood as a semi-independent ruler within the greater Carolingian empire and as a deft politician who struggled with fractious vassals and relatives at a time when the end of expansion meant that rewards and inducements had to come from within the already existing realm.

Nelson manages to make even discussions about the distribution of coins from regional mints readable, if not enjoyable.  The book is neither revolutionary nor a particularly deep exploration of the Carolingian world, but it is an intriguing look at certain aspects of that culture, from an interesting perspective.