Rutger Kramer is currently a post-doctoral researcher within the project Visions of Community (FWF Austrian Science Fund F42) at the Institute for Medieval Research in Vienna.

"In his superb new monograph, Rutger Kramer investigates the origins and manifestations of the striking, consequential self-consciousness of the Carolingian episcopate and argues that it developed during the early years of Louis the Pious's reign. [1] [...] Explicit references to Carolingian self-consciousness appear on nearly every page of Kramer's study. What Kramer shows with astonishing clarity is the extent to which the "Carolingian experiment" was characterized by--indeed, was constituted by--a constant watching, and the implications of this surveillance."- Courtney M. Booker, The Medieval Review, 21.08.26 (2021) "There is much to admire here. Kramer’s extensive research is reflected in the copious bibliography. [...] Kramer is clearly aware of the limitations of both his sources and his methodology, but he is also very attuned to the possibilities that this kind of case-study approach might offer." - Laura Wangerin, Church History, Vol. 91, Iss. 3

• TABLE OF CONTENTS Prologue Great Expectations Chapter 1 Framing the Carolingian Reforms — The Early Years of Louis the Pious Building an Empire Communities and Discourse Communities Between Cloister and Court Chapter 2 A Model for Empire — The Councils of 813 and the Institutio Canonicorum The Road to 813 Teaching the Empire 'An Effort, not an Honour': Bishops and their Responsibilities Church Fathers in Aachen Correcting Communities Communicating Correctio Channelling Authority Chapter 3 Monks on the Via Regia: The World of Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel A Life in Context Directions for a King: The Via Regia Explaining A Way: The Expositio in Regulam Sancti Benedicti A Crowning Achievement: The Diadema Monachorum The Lives of Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel Chapter 4 Caesar et abba simul: Monastic Reforms between Aachen and Aniane The Emperor and the Monks On the Outside Looking In 'Armed with the Javelins of Debate': Benedict of Aniane goes to Court The Death of an Abbot Epilogue Imperial Responsibilities and the Discourse of Reforms