Monasteries and Patrons in the Gorze Reform

The prominent role of monasteries in the early medieval period is comprehensively explored in this illuminating study of the relations between monasteries and the nobility in Lotharingia throughout the ninth and tenth centuries. It focuses on three renowned monasteries throughout this period of monastic reform in Europe. The author challenges accepted views of their role and explores the complex links with kings, bishops, and noble families which gave monasteries and their inmates a central place in politics and society.