Chapter Fiscal resources and political competition on the periphery of the Carolingian empire: some Catalan examples (9th century)

Abstract

By analysing diplomas and judicial documents recording disputes in the Carolingian counties located in the eastern Pyrenees, this chapter aims to analyse how fiscal assets constituted an important political resource for the creation of a system of government on the south-western periphery of the Carolingian empire. The study of these documents also helps to decode the way in which those public lands were used by Carolingian officials (comites) to build loyal clienteles from among competing military aristocracies.