The empire of Charlemagne – an attempt to unify continental Europe – came to an end a few decades after Alcuin wrote. It collapsed from its own internal weaknesses and the invasions of outsiders, especially Vikings. Gone was Francia, while “France” was still far in the future. The area that we call France today (and shall do so here for convenience) disintegrated into small units, each ruled by more or less independent men and occasionally women. Their power was based not only on military might and castles that served them as fortified centers of exploitation and rule, but also on personal bonds and the prestigious attributes of leadership. As already implied by Alcuin's handbook for the count-warrior Wido, the new regional rulers cultivated the image (and to some degree the reality) of piety and virtue. They distributed gifts to demonstrate their generosity; they founded and supported monasteries where monks might carry out vicariously for them lives dedicated to God; and they surrounded themselves with vassals and others with whom they pledged mutual fidelity. As towns rose and the economy burgeoned, these regional rulers grew rich; with their money they employed officials, legal advisers, physicians, and entertainers, creating thriving courts. The new economy in turn supported the rise of centers of learning – cathedral schools and eventually universities. Here scholars drew on the writings of both ancient and more recent authorities to create daring new syntheses and theories – about emotions, among other things, as we shall see.

The invasions that shattered the Carolingian empire ironically helped create a united England. In the course of the fifth and sixth centuries, Roman Britain had become Anglo-Saxon England, a global name for a shifting group of kingdoms. But with the Viking invasions came vigorous military action. Alfred the Great (d. 899) and his successors defeated the invaders and established a single kingdom with a real tax base and considerable military strength. At times ruled by kings who also reigned in Denmark and Norway, England was invaded in 1066 by one of the Continental rulers, Duke William of Normandy. He cut the links between England and Scandinavia, establishing in their place new ties with France.