As others have done so, it seems like this is a good place to give a short introduction to my own little TL which you can also find in my signature. It is an honor for me to be already nominated for anything as I am only actively contributing to this wonderful website for only around half a year, and I am therefore very thankful for those who are enjoying my nominated timeline and think it deserves a place here.
Final Light: A Carolingian Timeline, as its name already implies, focuses on a very critical age for the formation of the (medieval) Europe we know.
During the late Carolingian era, feudalism was slowly but steadily gaining ground across the Frankish Empire and, with it, the personal ambitions and dreams of those men and women who shaped the continent and its surroundings.
On the cultural side, the Carolingian renovatio was starting to come to an end by the start of this timeline, if there is truly an end to a revival and reclamation to the legacy of ancient Europe. The Carolingian influence on the Photian Schism, one of many to come, between the Latin and Greek churches can't be understated either.
This soft and hard power of the Carolingian Empire of Louis the Pious and his descendants was felt even so far outside that embassies were exchanged between the Carolingians and the Abbasid Caliph, for example.
Tributaries were formed on the fringes of the empire, and alliances and rivalries were being created and destroyed around and with the Carolingians.
Yet, the empire was deeply influenced by the people who were pulling the levers and was, in many ways, very fragile. Wrong decisions meant that a city would be lost to Norse raiders, but heavy-handed and misguided approaches to govern these vast areas could be revenged in many ways, not rarely ending in death. Ambitions and dreams of those who ruled, or were ruled over, were driving many political, economic, religious, cultural and even linguistic developments of the time, and these were certainly not predetermined.
Thus, in this timeline I am exploring an overlooked age of formation of the modern world by analyzing an earlier death of Charles the Bald, arguably one of the first kings of France and a very remarkable figure of the time, in a battle against the Bretons in 851 AD. This, as you can most likely already tell, will have many implications for not only the Frankish Empire, but the entire world as we know it by the sheer might of the ripples this change in history enables. The end of West Francia, the seed of which the Kingdom of France would emerge in our timeline, an early stop to the rise of an illiterate Armenian named Basil in Constantinople, a Catholic Bulgar Empire, a multipolar England and Scandinavia, and the (admittedly short-lived) reunification of Carolingian Europe under the Lotharingian branch of the family are only the beginning of a very different medieval European and, in the end, global dynamic which will emerge during the course of this timeline.
And yes, there are plenty of maps to be seen to visualize some of the political changes of these timeline, don't worry.
I wish everyone here good luck, especially those who were already nominated before for their excellent work and research which inspired me to create my own timeline in the first place. I'm still very flabbergasted that I'm getting positive and critical feedback to my TL, and I'll continue to try my best. Criticism is always very welcome, so don't hold yourself back if you feel like or know that some things should be different.
Have a beautiful day and, in the wake of the recent events, stay healthy!
