Places of Power - Mobility and Political Stability during the reign of Louis the Pious 814-840

Abstract

This thesis is about the mobility of Louis the Pious. How was the mobility of the king connected to the political stability of his empire? Did the travels of the king effect the political stability of his empire? Was it a necessity for Louis the Pious to travel? I will try to investigate whether and to what extent the mobility of the king was connected to the political stability of his empire in the eyes of his contemporaries or people writing shortly after his death. Therefore I will focus on four narrative sources, the Annales Regni Francorum, the Astronomer, Thegan and a poem written by Ermold the Black. The main goal of this thesis is to show how these various authors portrayed Louis the Pious and his mobility. These views will be connected and/or supplemented by views of scholars who have nowadays written and done research on topics related to the subject of this thesis.