. . . in die festivitatis: gift‐giving,power and the calendar in the Carolingian kingdoms*

The reckoning of time and the composing of calendars became an important part of cultural practice in the early Middle Ages. This paper asks how important were works on the reckoning of time for those who used the calendar in everyday life. It considers whether monks and scholars may have influenced royal officials in the reckoning of time. The social symbolism of calendric knowledge is also examined in the context of gift‐giving and exchange that permeated Frankish society. Representations and uses of time reckoning are actually seen to be similar in the royal court and local contexts, but were rather different from what some scholars have imagined.