The Worlds of Medieval Europe

by Backman, Clifford R.

• ISBN13: 9780195121681
• ISBN10: 0195121686
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-22
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Worlds of Medieval Europe updates and revises traditional textbook representations of the Middle Ages by balancing the conventional focus on political affairs, especially those of northern Europe, with equally detailed attention to medieval society as it developed in the Mediterranean. Theresult is a nuanced portrayal of a multifarious western world that was sharply divided between its northern and southern aspects. By also integrating the histories of the Islamic and Byzantine world into the main narrative, the text brings new life to the continuum of interaction--social, cultural,and intellectual, as well as commercial--that existed among all three societies. In addition, it describes ways in which the medieval Latin West attempted to understand the unified and rational structure of the human cosmos, which they believed existed beneath the observable diversity and disorderof the world. This effort to re-create a human ordering of "unity through diversity" provides an essential key to understanding medieval Europe and the ways in which it regarded and reacted to the worlds around it. The Worlds of Medieval Europe is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in medievalhistory, Western civilization, the history of Christianity, and Muslim-Christian relations. It also serves as an excellent supplement for courses on the history of a specific country in the medieval period, the history of medieval art, or the history of the European economy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction: Why the Middle Ages Matter	1	(6)
PART ONE The Early Middle Ages: The Third Through Ninth Centuries
The Roman World at its Height	7	(16)
The Geography of Empire	7	(3)
The Role of the Military	10	(2)
Roman Society	12	(2)
Roman Government	14	(3)
The Challenges of the Third Century	17	(2)
Reform, Recovery, Persecution, and Favor	19	(2)
Suggested Reading	21	(2)
The Rise of Christianity	23	(25)
Before Christ	24	(3)
The Growth of the New Religion	27	(5)
The Problem of Persecution	32	(2)
The Problem of Heresy	34	(2)
Constantine and Theodosius: An Imperial Church	36	(4)
Responses to Imperialization	40	(6)
Suggested Reading	46	(2)
Early Germanic Society	48	(21)
Germanic Life	49	(5)
Migrations and Invasions	54	(3)
Europe's First Kingdoms	57	(7)
Germanic Christianity and the Fourth ``Doctor of the Church''	64	(3)
Suggested Reading	67	(2)
Cloister and Culture	69	(17)
The Rise of Monasticism in the East	69	(4)
The Rise of Monasticism in the West	73	(5)
Cultural Life in the West: Cassiodorus, Boethius, and St. Benedict	78	(6)
Suggested Reading	84	(2)
The Emergence of the Medieval Worlds	86	(23)
Continuity and Change in Northern Europe	86	(6)
Continuity and Change in the Mediterranean	92	(7)
The Rise of Islam	99	(7)
A Tripartite World	106	(1)
Suggested Reading	107	(2)
The Carolingian Era	109	(28)
The ``Do-Nothing'' Kings and the Rise of the Carolingians	110	(4)
The Carolingian Monarchy	114	(6)
Carolingian Administration	120	(5)
Carolingian Society	125	(4)
The Carolingian Cultural Renewal	129	(4)
Suggested Reading	133	(4)
PART TWO The Central Middle Ages: The Tenth Through Twelfth Centuries
The Time of Troubles	137	(18)
Internal Disintegration	137	(4)
Trouble from the North	141	(3)
Trouble from the East	144	(1)
Trouble from the South	145	(4)
The End of the World?	149	(4)
Suggested Reading	153	(2)
Revolutions on Land and Sea	155	(20)
Changes on the Land	156	(4)
A Peasant Society Emerges	160	(7)
Changes on the Sea	167	(3)
A Maritime Society Emerges	170	(3)
Suggested Reading	173	(2)
A New Europe Emerges: North and South	175	(33)
The Rise of Feudal Society	176	(5)
The First German Empire	181	(6)
The Rise of Capetian France	187	(2)
The Anglo-Norman Realm	189	(7)
The Spanish Kingdoms	196	(5)
The Italian Scene	201	(5)
Suggested Reading	206	(2)
The Reform of the Church	208	(23)
The Origins of the Reform	210	(6)
The Papal Revolution	216	(3)
Christendom and the East	219	(8)
Monastic Reforms	227	(2)
Suggested Reading	229	(2)
The Renaissances of the Twelfth Century	231	(31)
Aristotle, Anselm, Abelard, and 'Ibn Rushd	232	(5)
Law and Canon Law	237	(4)
The Recovery of Science	241	(6)
The Rise of the Universities	247	(5)
Courtly Life, Love, and Literature	252	(8)
Suggested Reading	260	(2)
The Papal Monarchy	262	(21)
Church against State Once More	263	(4)
The Consolidation of Papal Authority	267	(6)
The Revival of Heresy	273	(4)
The Albigensian Crusade and the Origins of the Inquisition	277	(2)
Suggested Reading	279	(4)
PART THREE The Late Middle Ages: The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries
Politics in the Thirteenth Century	283	(21)
The Rise of Representative Institutions	284	(2)
England and France	286	(7)
Germany, Italy, and the Papacy	293	(3)
The New Mediterranean Superpowers	296	(3)
Byzantium and Islam in the Thirteenth Century	299	(3)
Suggested Reading	302	(2)
Art and Intellect in the Thirteenth Century	304	(23)
Scholasticism	305	(4)
The Gothic Vision	309	(7)
Science and Technology	316	(5)
Aspects of Popular Culture	321	(4)
Suggested Reading	325	(2)
Daily Life at the Medieval Zenith	327	(25)
Economic Changes	329	(4)
Peasants' Lives	333	(4)
Townsfolks' Lives	337	(8)
The Question of Literacy	345	(1)
Sex Lives of the Not-So-Rich and the Not-So-Famous	346	(4)
Suggested Reading	350	(2)
Changes in Religious Life	352	(17)
The Importance of Being Penitent	353	(3)
The Importance of Being Poor	356	(5)
The Humanization of Christ and the Cult of the Virgin	361	(3)
Mysticism	364	(3)
Suggested Reading	367	(2)
The Crises of the Fourteenth Century	369	(26)
Economic Difficulties	370	(3)
The Great Famine	373	(1)
The Black Death	374	(7)
War Everywhere	381	(6)
Challenges to Church Unity	387	(7)
Suggested Reading	394	(1)
Signs of A New Era	395	(18)
William of Ockham	395	(3)
Marsilius of Padua	398	(2)
Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer	400	(7)
Christine de Pizan	407	(1)
Suggested Reading	408	(5)
PART FOUR Two Epilogues
Closings in, Closings out	413	(14)
The Last Years of Byzantium	415	(2)
The Search for a New Route to the East	417	(3)
Closing In on Muslim Spain	420	(2)
The Expulsions of the Jews	422	(2)
Closing In Forever: The Forced Cloistering of Women Religious	424	(1)
Suggested Reading	425	(2)
The Renaissance in Medieval Context	427	(11)
Economies New and Old circa 1400	428	(2)
The Meaning of Humanism	430	(1)
The Canonization of Classical Culture	431	(4)
The Rejection of the Middle Ages	435	(1)
Suggested Reading	436	(2)
Appendix A The Medieval Popes	438	(5)
Appendix B The Carolingians	443	(1)
Appendix C The Capetians	444	(1)
Appendix D France: The Valois	445	(1)
Appendix E England: The Norman and Plantagenet Dynasties	446	(1)
Appendix F England: The Lancastrian and Yorkist Dynasties	447	(1)
Appendix G Germany: The Ottonian, Salian, and Hohenstaufen Dynasties	448	(1)
Appendix H Germany: The Late Medieval Emperors	449	(1)
Appendix I The Spanish Kingdoms, 1000-1250	450	(1)
Appendix J The Spanish Kingdoms, 1250-1500	451	(2)
Index	453