Oathbreakers (December 2024?)
Filed.
Modern Medieval
by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele
We just sent our editor a full draft of Oathbreakers, a story of the Carolingian civil war of 840-843, a story of just how fast a society can collapse. It’s not meant to be reassuring overall, but one lesson we learn from a thoughtful study of the past (that is perhaps a bit more reassuring) is that history is contingent and it’s always possible to make different choices with better outcomes.
But that’s not what happened in the first half of the 9th century, alas.
Here’s a sneak peek at our final paragraph:
Dhuoda closes her letter by speaking directly to William: “Return frequently to this little book. Farewell, noble boy.” Maybe this twenty-three year old heard those words and honored them. Maybe those words offered him some comfort as, from his perspective, the world continued to spin so madly out of control. At fourteen, he’d been a pawn in a larger game of thrones and for several years had played his part. He’d done his duty to his king and to his father but ultimately found those forces irreconcilable. So, William ended his life in revolt, breaking his oath, seeking revenge. Fontenoy and Verdun had changed everything and they had changed nothing. The civil war between brothers and sons continued and expanded, consuming uncles, cousins, nephews, and close friends. And all of the fallen left behind grieving mothers in their wake, with no recourse but to bid their boys, noble or not, farewell.
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