By the early ninth century, the Carolingian empire was at the height of its power. The Franks, led by Charlemagne, had built the largest European domain since Rome in its heyday. But just two generations later, their world was in shambles. Civil war had erupted after Louis the Pious’s sons tried to overthrow him—and then placed their knives at one another’s necks. Families who had once charged into battle together now drew each other’s blood. The Carolingian Civil War would rage for years. Oathbreakers is the dramatic history of this brutal, turbulent time. Medieval historians Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry illuminate what happens when a once-unshakable political and cultural order breaks down and long-suppressed tensions flare into deadly violence. Drawn from rich primary sources, featuring a wide cast of characters, and packed with dramatic twists and turns, this is history that rivals the greatest fictional epics—with consequences that continue to shape our own world. Oathbreak