Leanne Good

This dissertation examines the transformation of the political, social, cultural, and physical landscape of eighth-century and ninth-century Bavaria as the region was absorbed into the expanding Frankish kingdom, following the deposition of its quasi-regal duke. The study elucidates the wider process by which the Carolingian dynasty united most of Western Europe under its control in the course of a few decades, concentrating on the roles of land use and the representation of environmental space. Changes made during this period to the organization of land resources, and to the mental demarcations of land such as ecclesiastical jurisdiction and centers of political power, changed perceptions of identity and supported changes in rulership.