Fraternal Bonds in the Early Middle Ages

The problem of fraternal relations in the early Middle Ages has not been
hitherto studied in detail, especially in comparison with the multitude
of studies dealing with the models of marriage, gender-based social
roles, or the relations between generations. Historians have been often
prone to assume that relations between siblings in European culture were
naturally constant, based on loyalty, solidarity, and readiness to act
in the common interest, stemming from blood ties. However, this
conviction equates the category of brotherhood/fraternitas used
by medieval authors with concepts associated with sources from later
periods. This study does not concern narrowly defined family history,
but is an attempt to examine fraternal relations in the early Middle
Ages as a multidimensional cultural phenomenon. As the author seeks to
demonstrate, it is difficult to speak of kinship in the ninth century
and later without being aware of the religious and ideological
implications of the transformations taking place at the time, even if
direct traces of the impact of moralizing and theological teachings on
the conduct of individuals are hard to capture in the sources.