Normative Virtues? Unravelling Augustine's Frame work of Worldly Rule and Its Echoes in Early and Late Carolingian Political Advice

This article examines Augustine's lesser-considered framework of worldly rule in the De civitate Dei, shifting focus from virtues to commonly shared goals as the basis for political communities. It explores how this framework was received and reinterpreted by early and late Carolingian advisers. Alcuin of York presents Charlemagne's reign as a collective Christian enterprise grounded in co-operation. Hincmar of Reims, by contrast, centres justice (iustitia) in the figure of the ruler, who enacts divine justice (vera iustitia) under clerical oversight. These divergent appropriations reflect changing political realities and offer distinct types of Christian leadership grounded in justice. Informed by current research and highlighting the absence of felix/felicitas as lemmata in the Augustinus-Lexikon, the article opens avenues for addressing the coherence of divine and worldly law through political advice in Carolingian governance.