Dissertation title: "'The Only Just King': Arnulf of Carinthia and the Transformation of Carolingian Europe c.850-899"
Director: Dr. Jennifer Davis

 

My dissertation seeks to understand the reign of Arnulf of Carinthia (c. 850-899) in the larger context of ninth century politics. Arnulf has been traditionally understood as a somewhat weak monarch, whose birth status prohibited him from being as powerful as other Carolingian rulers. At the same time, this period is conceived of as a twilight for royal power that would give way to the Ottonian rulers of the tenth century. My research so far has found that Arnulf’s birth status was not as simple as “legitimate” or “illegitimate,” Arnulf could choose to emphasize his Carolingian lineage when relevant. Further, the end of the ninth century was not a time of moribund kings and stagnant politics, but continued many of the trends from the ninth century in new directions.

Before coming to CUA, I completed a B.A. at The American University in Washington DC, and then an M.Phil. at the University of Cambridge. My M.Phil. dissertation concerned the relationship between political power and royal palaces in the Carolingian world. It was that project that inspired my interest in the connection between politics and geography, which remains a part of my work to this day.

Highlights

Conference Papers:

“Inheriting a Kingdom?: ‘Position’ Before King in Ninth Century Bavaria (c. 860-887),” to be presented at the 46^th Sewanee Medieval Colloquium, The University of the South, April 17-18^th, 2020 (canceled due to Covid-19)

“Competition and Adaptation in the Reign of Arnulf of Carinthia, 887-899,” presented at the 95^th Medieval Academy of America Conference, University of California, Berkeley, March 26-28^th, 2020 (delivered virtually due to Covid-19)

“Arnulf of Carinthia and the End of the Carolingian Empire: Charters, Ancestry, and the Legitimacy of Rulership,” presented at the 45^th New England Medieval Conference at the University of New Hampshire, November 17^th, 2018

Awards:

Research Award, Department of History, The Catholic University of America, Fall 2018