Intheearlymedievalworld,thewaypeoplerememberedthepastchangedhowtheysawthepresent.Newaccountsofformerleadersandtheirdeedscouldstrengthentheirsuccessors,establishnovelclaimstopower,orcriticizethecurrentruler.After888,whentheCarolingianEmpirefracturedintothesmallerkingdomsofmedievalwesternEurope,memorybecameavitaltoolforthoseseekingtoclaimroyalpowerforthemselves.CommemoratingPowerinEarlyMedievalSaxonylooksathowthepastwasevokedforpoliticalpurposesunderanewSaxondynasty,theOttonians,whocametodominatepost-CarolingianEuropeastherulersofanewempireinGermanyandItaly.WiththeaccessionofthefirstOttonianking,HenryI,in919,sitescommemoratingtheking’sfamilycametotheforegroundofthemedievalGermankingdom.Themostremarkableoftheseweretwoconventsofmonasticwomen,GandersheimandQuedlinburg,whoseprominenceandprestigeinOttonianpoliticshavebeenseenasexceptionalinthehistoryofearlymedievalwesternEurope.Inthisvolume,SarahGreeroffersafreshinterpretationofhowtheseconventsbecamecentralsitesinthenewOttonianempirebyrevealinghowthewomeninthesecommunitiesthemselveswereskilfulpoliticalactorswhoweremorethancapableofmanipulatingmemoryfortheirownbenefit.InthisfirstmajorstudyinEnglishofhowtheseSaxonconventsfunctionedasmemorialcentres,GreerpresentsanewvisionofthefirstGermandynasty,onecharacterizedbycontingency,versatility,andthepowerofthepast.
