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Northwest Europe in the early Middle Ages, c. AD 600-1150 : a comparative archaeology
Supported by evidence from architecture, relics, manuscript illuminations and texts, Christopher Loveluck explores the radical transformation of Northwest Europe (primarily Britain, France and Belgium) between c.AD 600 and 1150 in the most comprehensive comparative analysis of the rural and urban archaeological remains for twenty-five years.
eBook
Escape from Rome : the failure of empire and the road to prosperity
\"In this book, Walter Scheidel provides a unique take on the perennial debates about the rise of the west. His main argument is straightforward and provocative: the fact that nothing like the Roman Empire ever again emerged in Europe was a crucial precondition for modern economic growth, the Industrial Revolution and worldwide conquest much later on. Contra Ken Pomeranz's classic thesis about the \"Great Divergence\" of the 18th/19th centuries when northwestern Europe pulled away from China and the rest of world in terms of economic performance and overall power, Scheidel argues there was a much more significant \"first great divergence\" in late antiquity which set the stage. Scheidel argues that it wasn't until the West \"escaped\" from the dominance of the Roman empire did it flourish economically (unlike China, comparison which will be explored in this book, which despite transformations and setbacks remained a \"universal empire\" for much of it's 2,200 year history). Scheidel approaches this \"first great divergence\" via a new take on some central question concerning the life and fate of the Roman Empire: How did the Roman Empire come into existence - did its rise depend on unique conditions that were never repeated later on? Was its fall inevitable? Why was nothing like the Roman Empire ever rebuilt? And did this matter for (much) later developments? He concludes by arguing that the fall and lasting disappearance of the Roman Empire was an indispensable precondition for later European exceptionalism and therefore for the creation of the modern world we now live in. From this perspective, the absence of the Roman Empire had a much greater impact than its previous existence and its subsequent influence on European culture, which is of course well documented in many domains and often accorded great significance. Scheidel does concede that a monopolistic empire like Rome's which first created a degree of shared culture and institutions but subsequently went away for good was perhaps more favorable to later European development than a scenario in which no such empire had ever existed in the first place. But, in answer to the question, \"\"What have the Romans ever done for us?\" Scheidel replies: \"fall and go away.\"\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
To Follow in Their Footsteps
When the First Crusade ended with the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, jubilant crusaders returned home to Europe bringing with them stories, sacred relics, and other memorabilia, including banners, jewelry, and weapons. In the ensuing decades, the memory of the crusaders' bravery and pious sacrifice was invoked widely among the noble families of western Christendom. Popes preaching future crusades would count on these very same families for financing, leadership, and for the willing warriors who would lay down their lives on the battlefield. Despite the great risks and financial hardships associated with crusading, descendants of those who suffered and died on crusade would continue to take the cross, in some cases over several generations. Indeed, as Nicholas L. Paul reveals inTo Follow in Their Footsteps, crusading was very much a family affair.
Scholars of the crusades have long pointed to the importance of dynastic tradition and ties of kinship in the crusading movement but have failed to address more fundamental questions about the operation of these social processes. What is a \"family tradition\"? How are such traditions constructed and maintained, and by whom? How did crusading families confront the loss of their kin in distant lands? Making creative use of Latin dynastic narratives as well as vernacular literature, personal possessions and art objects, and architecture from across western Europe, Paul shows how traditions of crusading were established and reinforced in the collective memories of noble families throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Even rulers who never fulfilled crusading vows found their political lives dominated and, in some ways, directed by the memory of their crusading ancestors. Filled with unique insights and careful analysis,To Follow in Their Footstepsreveals the lasting impact of the crusades, beyond the expeditions themselves, on the formation of dynastic identity and the culture of the medieval European nobility.
eBook
Europe\ in the Middle Ages
From the nineteenth century onwards, historians described the Middle Ages as the 'cradle' of the nation state-then, after World War II, they increasingly identified the period as the 'cradle' of Europe. A close look at the sources demonstrates that both interpretations are misleading: while 'Europe' was not a rare word, its use simply does not follow modern expectations. This volume contrasts modern historians' constructions of 'Europe in the Middle Ages' with a fresh analysis of the medieval sources and discourses. The results force us to recognize that medieval ideas of ordering the world differ from modern expectations, thereby inviting us to reflect upon the use and limits of history in contemporary political discourse.
eBook
Ages of Woman, Ages of Man
The collection is organized around two main principles, stages of life and gender, and is divided into eight chapters: childhood, youth and sexuality, courtship and weddings, married life, economic life, networks and communities, and widowhood and old age. The sources address the numerous and varied ways in which women and men’s notions of themselves affected their lives, and explore how accepted norms of masculine and feminine behaviour influenced social, economic, and religious change. Guided by a general editors' introduction and then an introduction to each chapter, the user will find this an invaluable reference companion to early modern gender history.
Merry Wiesner Hanks has published several books on women in early modern Europe, including Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World (Routledge, 2000) and is the co-editor of the Sixteenth Century Journal. She is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee.
Monica Chojnacka is the author of Working Women of Early Modern Venice (2001). She is Associate Professor of History at the University of Georgia.
Geographic table of contents. Introduction I. CHILDHOOD 1. Birth and Infancy 2. Education and training 3. Orphans 4. Inheritance II. YOUTH, SEXUALITY, AND THE SINGLE LIFE 5. Advanced Education 6. Restrictions on single people 7. Sexuality 8. Images of Youth III. COURTSHIP, LOVE, AND WEDDINGS 9. Choosing a spouse 10. Engagement negotiations 11. Marriage contracts and agreements 12. Love 13. Weddings IV. MARRIED LIFE 14. Definitions of marital status 15. Love and companionship 16. Marriage as partnership 17. Conflict V. ECONOMIC LIFE 18. Ownership and management of property and goods 19. Sales and trade 20. Production 21. Medical care 22. Servants, soldiers, and slaves VI. RELIGION 23. Defining and maintaining orthodoxy 24. Religious activities 25. Competing traditions VII. NETWORKS 26. Family bonds 27. Friendship networks and neighborhoods 28. Professional networks 29. Religious communities 30. Conflict VIII. WIDOWHOOD AND OLD AGE 31. Carrying on the family business 32. Widows and widowers as financial administrators 33. Widowhood, age, and power 34. Hardship. List of Contributors.
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Beyond the Northlands : Viking Voyages and the Old Norse sagas
In the dying days of the eighth century, the Vikings erupted onto the international stage with brutal raids and slaughter. The medieval Norsemen may be best remembered as monk murderers and village pillagers, but this is far from the whole story. Throughout the Middle Ages, long-ships transported hairy northern voyagers far and wide, where they not only raided but also traded, explored and settled new lands, encountered unfamiliar races, and embarked on pilgrimages and crusades. To explore the sagas and the world that produced them, Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough now takes her own trip through the dramatic landscapes that they describe. Along the way, she illuminates the rich but often confusing saga accounts with a range of other evidence: archaeological finds, rune-stones, medieval world maps, encyclopaedic manuscripts, and texts from as far away as Byzantium and Baghdad. As her journey across the Old Norse world shows, by situating the sagas against the revealing background of this other evidence, we can begin at least to understand just how the world was experienced, remembered, and imagined by this unique culture from the outermost edge of Europe so many centuries ago.
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Markets in Early Medieval Europe
Major sites such as Hamwic and Dorestad typically dominate any discussion of early medieval trade and emporia - this study is altogether atypical in many ways. Comprising nineteen papers taken from a conference held at Worcester College, Oxford in 2000, the focus here is very much on the smaller, more rural trading centres and inland markets of Northern Europe. The contributors reflect very different approaches to the material, including studies that examine up-to-date historical, archaeological and numismatic evidence from Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden dating from the 7th to 9th century. The authors consider the rather controversial use of metal-detecting in identifying and defining new sites and patterns of interaction and exchange, highlighting its positive contribution. Contributors include Mark Blackburn, David Griffiths, Lars Jorgensen, Michael Metcalf, Julian D Richards, Peter Sawyer and Astrid Tummuscheit.
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