Surveying the sleep of kings and the status of royal dreams from the classical period to the ninth century, this study examines individual dreams and the political disruption that informs them. It presents Charlemagne's lust, demons and archangels, and Charles the Fat's journey through an otherworld to an uncertain constitutional future.

The reader will encounter a variety of surprising dreams: of Charlemagne's lust, demons and archangels, a sorrowful prophet, disputed property and bullying saints, magical swords and mad princes, and Charles the Fat's journey through an awesome otherworld towards an uncertain constitutional future. Paul Edward Dutton is a professor of history at Simon Fraser University.