Introduction -- Part I. Strategic Rulership. Part I introduction : Tools of control and coercion ; Managing royal agents ; Disciplining royal agents ; Fractured control : Charlemagne's response to dissent ; Part I conclusion : Control and its limits -- Part II. Center and Region in Charlemagne's Empire. Part II introduction : Unity and diversity in Charlemagne's empire ; An empire of regions? ; The conquered regions as arenas for experimentation ; The nature of the empire : centralization and communication ; Part II conclusion : The imperial character of Charlemagne's realm -- Part III. An Empire of Practice. Part III introduction : Continuity, change, and the building of an empire ; The chronology of the reign ; Recta via : the dynamics of political change ; Part III conclusion: An empire of practice -- Conclusion: Charlemagne's invention of medieval rulership.