Royal patronage of liturgy was practised by both the Merovingians and the Carolingians, but it was Charlemagne who perceived and utilised the political power to be derived from such patronage.

This book concentrates on an aspect of the history of the Frankish liturgy - the royal patronage of liturgy - which is an important indicator of the cultural creativity and social development that characterised early medieval Francia. The patronage of liturgy in Frankish Gaul started in the Merovingian period. Yet it was the Carolingians, and foremost among them Charlemagne, who realised the political power within the patronage of liturgy and, therefore, used it to ease the formation and acceptance of new political ideals and structures. The examination of the royal patronage of liturgy in the Frankish kingdoms also provides a remarkable opportunity to re-examine some of the most persistent notions regarding the Frankish liturgy, such as the notion of a unified Carolingian liturgy and that of Romanisation of the Frankish rite. YITZHAK HEN is Lecturer in History at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Israel.