An exciting examination of the entire history of the Carolingian 'dynasty' in western Europe. The author shows the whole period to be one of immense political, religious. cultural and intellectual dynamism; not only did it lay the foundations of the governmental and administrative institutions of Europe and the organisation of the Church, but it also securely established the intellectual and cultural traditions which were to dominate western Christendom for centuries to come.
Die vorliegende biographische Studie zu Lothar I. (795-855) schließt eine Lücke, die die Forschung bis dato offengelassen hat. Lothar, der vor allem wegen seiner Rebellionen gegen den Vater und der blutigen Auseinandersetzung mit seinen Brüdern um das Erbe meist negativ von der Nachwelt memoriert wurde, stand bisher kaum im Fokus der Forschung. Detailliert werden nun erstmals Leben und Herrschaft des Karolingers betrachtet. In kritischer Auseinandersetzung mit der bisherigen Forschung werden viele Erkenntnisse zu Lothar und seiner Zeit bestätigt und ergänzt, an mehreren Stellen jedoch auch revidiert. Durch die umfangreiche Sammlung der Belege, die Lothar betreffen, bietet die Arbeit zudem eine fundierte Grundlage für die weitere Betrachtung dieser „zentralen Gestalt“ (Theodor Schieffer) seiner Zeit und des Frankenreiches insgesamt.
The Church was the central institution of the European Middle Ages, and the foundation of medieval life. Professor Lynch's admirable survey (concentrating on the western church, and emphasising ideas and trends over personalities) meets a long-felt need for a single-volume comprehensive history, designed for students and non-specialists.
This study reveals the remarkable quantity of varied forms and new types of history written in the Frankish realms of Western Europe during the eighth and ninth centuries. The Franks also preserved the classical and Judaeo-Christian histories from earlier centuries. Their books reflect a highly sophisticated and many-layered understanding of the past as well as a very creative use of history. Rosamond McKitterick illuminates the extraordinarily influential role of these history texts in the formation of political ideologies and senses of identity within Europe.
This book examines a pivotal period in ancient human history: the fall of the Roman Empire and the birth of a new European civilization in the early Middle Ages.
How exactly did political power operate in early medieval Europe? Taking Alsace as his focus, Hans Hummer offers an intriguing new case study on localised and centralised power and the relationship between the two from c. 600–1000. Providing a panoramic survey of the sources from the region, which include charters, notarial formulas, royal instruments, and Old High German literature, he untangles the networks of monasteries and kin groups which made up the political landscape of Alsace, and shows the significance of monastic control in shaping that landscape. He also investigates this local structure in light of comparative evidence from other regions. He tracks the emergence of the distinctive local order during the seventh century to its eventual decline in the late tenth century in the face of radical monastic reform. Highly original and well balanced, this 2006 work is of interest to all students of medieval political structures.
This volume brings together for the first time Simon Coupland's series of significant articles on Carolingian coinage. The author draws out the economic and political implications of coin types and coin hoards from the reign of Charlemagne to the Edict of Pîtres in 864. This numismatic survey is complemented by other studies which use the evidence of coinage and contemporary texts to consider aspects of trade and power in the ninth century, particularly the impact of the Viking raids.
In 987, when Hugh Capet took the throne of France, founding a dynasty which was to rule for over 300 years, his kingdom was weak and insignificant. But by 1100, the kingdom of France was beginning to dominate the cultural nd religious life of western Europe. In the centuries that followed, to scholars and to poets, to reforming churchmen and monks, to crusaders and the designers of churches, France was the hub of the universe. La douce France drew people like a magnet even though its kings were, until about 1200, comparatively insignificant figures. Then, thanks to the conquests and reforms of King Philip Augustus, France became a dominant force in political and economic terms as well, producing a saint-king, Louis IX, and in Philip IV, a ruler so powerful that he could dictate to popes and emperors. Spanning France's development across four centuries, Capetian France is a definitive book. This second edition has been carefully revised to take account of the very latest work, without losing the original book's popular balance between a compelling narrative and an fascinating examination of the period's main themes.
This study defines and chronicles the so-called "external school," a monastic institution often presumed to have trained non-monastic students in Latin literacy. Through an examination of the intentions of political and ecclesiastical leaders, the efffects of missionary activities, and the role of prayer confraternities, it places a long-misunderstood feature of monastic life in a political, social, and economic context.
Building States and Regimes in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Author: Thomas Ertman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139936085
Category: History
Page: N.A
View: 3954
For many years scholars have sought to explain why the European states which emerged in the period before the French Revolution developed along such different lines. Why did some become absolutist and others constitutionalist? What enabled some to develop bureaucratic administrative systems, while others remained dependent upon patrimonial practices? This book presents a new theory of state-building in medieval and early modern Europe. Ertman argues that two factors - the organisation of local government at the time of state formation and the timing of sustained geo-military competition - can explain most of the variation in political regimes and in state infrastructures found across the continent during the second half of the eighteenth century. Drawing on insights developed in historical sociology, comparative politics, and economic history, this book makes a compelling case for the value of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of political development.
"The Popes and the Baltic Crusades" examines the formulation of papal policy on the crusades and missions in the Baltic region in the central Middle Ages and analyses why and how the crusade concept was extended from the Holy Land to the Baltic region.
Legitimationsstrategien frühmittelalterlicher Herrscherdynastien im transkulturellen Vergleich
Author: Wolfram Drews
Publisher: Oldenbourg Verlag
ISBN: 3050048646
Category: History
Page: 502
View: 7784
Mitte des 8. Jahrhunderts wechselten sowohl im Frankenreich als auch im islamischen Kalifat die Herrscherdynastien, Merowinger und Umayyaden wurden nahezu zeitgleich durch Karolinger bzw. Abbasiden ersetzt. Während die Abbasiden behaupteten, als Verwandte des verstorbenen Propheten Mohammed über ein spezielles, erbliches Charisma zu verfügen, das ihnen den Zugang zu einem unvergleichlichen, islamisch begründeten Herrschaftswissen eröffne, konstruierten die Karolinger mit Hilfe der Kirche, namentlich des römischen Papsttums, ein besonderes Amtscharisma, mit dessen Hilfe sie sich als Exponenten eines verchristlichten Herrschertums und als geistliche Verwandte des Nachfolgers des heiligen Petrus inszenierten. Trotz aller Unterschiede versuchten beide Dynastien, sich als Exponenten eines sakral konnotierten Herrschertums zu etablieren. Die konkreten Spielräume, die sich den politischen Akteuren eröffneten, hingen jedoch entscheidend von den historischen Rahmenbedingungen ab, namentlich vom jeweiligen Stadium der religiösen Traditionsbildung und den vorherrschenden religiös-kulturellen Paradigmen zur Vergangenheitsrezeption. Untersucht werden erb- und amtscharismatische Konzeptualisierungen der Herrschaft, Fragen der Rekrutierung von Eliten sowie Probleme der Instrumentalisierung und Transformation religiöser Vorstellungen zum Zweck der Integration politischer Gemeinwesen. Durch die Analyse zweier komplementärer Phänomene aus der christlich-lateinischen sowie der arabisch-islamischen Geschichte leistet die Arbeit einen Beitrag zur Konzeptualisierung einer politischen Kulturgeschichte in der Vormoderne. Die theoriegeleitete, komparative und problemorientierte Untersuchung macht Methoden und Konzepte der Historischen Komparatistik für die Frühmittelalterforschung fruchtbar und unterstützt auf diese Weise die geschichtswissenschaftliche und mediävistische Theoriebildung.
Cradle of northern Europe's later urban and industrial pre-eminence, medieval Flanders was a region of immense political and economic importance -- and already, as so often later, the battleground of foreign powers. Yet this book is, remarkably, the first comprehensive modern history of the region. Within the framework of a clear political narrative, it presents a vivid portrait of medieval Flemish life that will be essential reading for the medievalist -- and a boon for the many visitors to Bruges and Ghent eager for a better understanding of what they see.
This Encyclopedia gathers together the most recent scholarship on Medieval Italy, while offering a sweeping view of all aspects of life in Italy during the Middle Ages. This two volume, illustrated, A-Z reference is a cross-disciplinary resource for information on literature, history, the arts, science, philosophy, and religion in Italy between A.D. 450 and 1375. For more information including the introduction, a full list of entries and contributors, a generous selection of sample pages, and more, visit the Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia website.
The Northmen’s Fury tells the Viking story, from the first pinprick raids of the eighth century to the great armies that left their Scandinavian homelands to conquer larger parts of France, Britain and Ireland. It recounts the epic voyages that took them across the Atlantic to the icy fjords of Greenland and to North America over four centuries before Columbus and east to the great rivers of Russia and the riches of the Byzantine empire. One summer’s day in 793, death arrived from the sea. The raiders who sacked the island monastery of Lindisfarne were the first Vikings, sea-borne attackers who brought two centuries of terror to northern Europe. Before long the sight of their dragon-prowed longships and the very name of Viking gave rise to fear and dread, so much so that monks were reputed to pray each night for delivery from ‘the Northmen’s Fury’. Yet for all their reputation as bloodthirsty warriors, the Vikings possessed a sophisticated culture that produced art of great beauty, literature of abiding power and kingdoms of surprising endurance. The Northmen’s Fury describes how and why a region at the edge of Europe came to dominate and to terrorise much of the rest of the continent for nearly three centuries and how, in the end, the coming of Christianity and the growing power of kings tempered the Viking ferocity and stemmed the tide of raids. It relates the astonishing achievement of the Vikings in forging far-flung empires whose sinews were the sea and whose arteries were not roads but maritime trading routes. The blood of the Vikings runs in millions of veins in Europe and the Americas and the tale of their conquests, explorations and achievements continues to inspire people around the world.
First published in 1992, Medieval Military Technology has become the definitive book in its field, garnering much praise and a large readership. This thorough update of a classic book, regarded as both an excellent overview and an important piece of scholarship, includes fully revised content, new sections on the use of horses, handguns, incendiary weapons, and siege engines, and eighteen new illustrations. The four key organizing sections of the book still remain: arms and armor, artillery, fortifications, and warships. Throughout, the authors connect these technologies to broader themes and developments in medieval society as well as to current scholarly and curatorial controversies.
St Katherine of Alexandria was one of the most popular saints in both the Orthodox and Latin Churches in the later Middle Ages, yet there has been little study into the way in which her cult developed before c. 1200. This new book redresses the balance, providing a thorough examination of the way the cult spread from the Greek-speaking lands of the Eastern Mediterranean and into Western Europe.