Between theft and treason: latrocinium in Carolingian capitularies

Suppressing robbery, latrocinium, was a priority for Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, Charles the Bald, and Louis II at key political moments. Latrones were conceptualized as ordinary thieves, as highway robbers, and as threats to peace and security. In capitularies, latrocinium was implicitly and explicitly associated with infidelity. As war exacerbated the problem of latrocinium in the middle of the ninth century, Carolingian rulers endeavoured to create a legitimizing political consensus around stopping it while simultaneously characterizing potential challengers to their authority as criminal elements. Their actions against latrones show their interest in internal peacemaking.