Thursday, June 19, 2014

Episode 4 - 'Vikings and Franks in the Age of Charlemagne' with Daniel Melleno

Vikings and Franks in the Age of Charlemagne (Daniel Melleno)

This episode of HistoriCal Outreach discusses how empires and kingdoms interacted in the long-ago 7th to 9th centuries, focusing on Western and Northern Europe. Topics include how religion tied to diplomacy, the different forms of political organization at the beginning of the medieval period, why the Vikings came to raid and pillage the French coastline, and how much we can really even know about an era so long ago that few written sources remain.

Daniel Melleno recently earned his PhD from UC Berkeley in medieval history.  His dissertation focuses on economic, social, and political relationships between the Frankish Empire and Scandinavia in the seventh through ninth centuries.




For those who have listened: The elephant's name is Abul-Abbas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abul-Abbas

Interviewer: Douglas O'Reagan
Runtime: 45:22