Author: Robert Fossier Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521266451 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 616
Book Description
This is the second volume of one of the finest general introductions to the medieval world of recent times, first published in French by Armand Colin. Volume II begins at the turn of the millennium and covers the extraordinary rebirth of Europe, in terms of demographic expansion, agrarian settlement and organisation, the establishment of towns and villages, the ascendancy of the feudal system, the appearance of formal states and kingdoms, and the dramatic controlling ascendancy of the western Church. In the east, despite the external appearance of grandeur, the Islamic countries were being torn apart by mutual rivalry, while the Byzantime empire lost massive border territories through political and economic incompetence. Full coverage is given to both east and west, and their artistic heritage is displayed lavishly in many of the colour plates. A comprehensive bibliography is also included.
Author: Robert Fossier Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521266451 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This is the long-anticipated second volume of one of the finest general introductions to the medieval world of recent times, first published in French by Armand Colin. Lavishly illustrated, with many accompanying maps and charts, each volume presents a synthesis of current scholarly research and interpretation, carefully checked, translated, and revised for an English-speaking readership. Volume 2 begins at the turn of the millennium and covers the extraordinary rebirth of Europe, in terms of demographic expansion, agrarian settlement and organization, the establishment of towns and villages, the ascendancy of the feudal system, the appearance of formal states and kingdoms, and the dramatic controlling ascendancy of the Western Church. In the East, despite the external appearance of grandeur, the Islamic countries were being torn apart by mutual rivalry, while the Byzantine empire lost massive border territories through political and economic incompetence. As in Volumes 1 (350-950) and 3 (1250-1520), full coverage is given to both East and West, and their artistic heritage is vividly displayed in many of the color plates. A comprehensive bibliography is also included as an aid to further investigation, whether by general readers or by students of the period.
Author: Brendan Smith Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1108625258 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 686
Book Description
The thousand years explored in this book witnessed developments in the history of Ireland that resonate to this day. Interspersing narrative with detailed analysis of key themes, the first volume in The Cambridge History of Ireland presents the latest thinking on key aspects of the medieval Irish experience. The contributors are leading experts in their fields, and present their original interpretations in a fresh and accessible manner. New perspectives are offered on the politics, artistic culture, religious beliefs and practices, social organisation and economic activity that prevailed on the island in these centuries. At each turn the question is asked: to what extent were these developments unique to Ireland? The openness of Ireland to outside influences, and its capacity to influence the world beyond its shores, are recurring themes. Underpinning the book is a comparative, outward-looking approach that sees Ireland as an integral but exceptional component of medieval Christian Europe.
Author: Daniel Waley Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317890175 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 441
Book Description
From the divine right of kings to the political philosophies of writers such as Machiavelli, the medieval city-states to the unification of Spain, Daniel Waley and Peter Denley focus on the growing power of the state to illuminate changing political ideas in Europe between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Spanning the entire continent and beyond, and using contemporary voices wherever possible, the authors include substantial sections on economics, religion, and art, and how developments in these areas fed into and were influenced by the transformation of political thinking. The new edition takes the narrative beyond the confines of western Europe with chapters on East Central Europe and the teutonic knights, and the Portuguese expansion across the Atlantic. The third edition of this classic introduction to the period includes even greater use of contemporary voices, full reading lists, and new chapters on East Central Europe and Portuguese exploration. Suitable as an introductory text for undergraduate courses in Medieval Studies and Medieval European History.
Author: Regis J. Armstrong Publisher: New City Press ISBN: 1565481143 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 892
Book Description
The Prophet is the third volume in this extraordinary series of "the writings of Saint Francis and those of the early Franciscan witnesses" and it will "be of estimable value to scholars, students, and lovers of Il Poverello as well...a scholarly achievement done in the service of history, theology and spirituality." (Lawrence Cunningham)
Author: Robert Fossier Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521266444 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This volume forms the first part of one of the finest general introductions to the medieval world of recent times. Lavishly illustrated, with numerous accompanying maps and charts, each of the three volumes presents a synthesis of scholarly research and interpretation, translated from the original French and revised thoroughly for an English speaking readership. Volume I spans the beginning of the Middle Ages, a period marked not only by change, plague and civil strife but also by the rise of the Church, the growing importance of Byzantium and the flowering of the Carologian Renaissance. Full coverage is given to East and West, and their artistic heritage is displayed in many of the colour plates. A bibliography is appended as an aid to further investigation, whether by the general reader or by teachers and students of the period. The two further volumes, on 950-1250 and on 1250-1520, are also available. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages is also sold as a three-volume boxed set.
Author: Michael A. Ryan Publisher: Cornell University Press ISBN: 0801463165 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 231
Book Description
Astrology in the Middle Ages was considered a branch of the magical arts, one informed by Jewish and Muslim scientific knowledge in Muslim Spain. As such it was deeply troubling to some Church authorities. Using the stars and planets to divine the future ran counter to the orthodox Christian notion that human beings have free will, and some clerical authorities argued that it almost certainly entailed the summoning of spiritual forces considered diabolical. We know that occult beliefs and practices became widespread in the later Middle Ages, but there is much about the phenomenon that we do not understand. For instance, how deeply did occult beliefs penetrate courtly culture and what exactly did those in positions of power hope to gain by interacting with the occult? In A Kingdom of Stargazers, Michael A. Ryan examines the interest in astrology in the Iberian kingdom of Aragon, where ideas about magic and the occult were deeply intertwined with notions of power, authority, and providence. Ryan focuses on the reigns of Pere III (1336–1387) and his sons Joan I (1387–1395) and Martí I (1395–1410). Pere and Joan spent lavish amounts of money on astrological writings, and astrologers held great sway within their courts. When Martí I took the throne, however, he was determined to purge Joan's courtiers and return to religious orthodoxy. As Ryan shows, the appeal of astrology to those in power was clear: predicting the future through divination was a valuable tool for addressing the extraordinary problems—political, religious, demographic—plaguing Europe in the fourteenth century. Meanwhile, the kings' contemporaries within the noble, ecclesiastical, and mercantile elite had their own reasons for wanting to know what the future held, but their engagement with the occult was directly related to the amount of power and authority the monarch exhibited and applied. A Kingdom of Stargazers joins a growing body of scholarship that explores the mixing of religious and magical ideas in the late Middle Ages.
Author: Norman Golb Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521580328 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 668
Book Description
This 1998 book is a comprehensive account of the high Hebraic culture developed by the Jews in Normandy during the Middle Ages, and in particular during the Anglo-Norman period. This culture has remained virtually unknown to the public and to the scholarly world throughout modern times, until a combination of recent manuscript discoveries and archaeological findings delineated this phenomenon for the first time. The book explores the origins of this remarkable community, beginning with topographical evidence pointing to the arrival of the Jews in Normandy as early as Roman and Gallo-Roman times, through autograph documentary testimony available in the Cairo Genizah manuscripts and early medieval Latin sources, finally using the rich manuscript evidence of twelfth- and early thirteenth-century writers which attest to the high cultural level attained by this community and to its social and political interaction with the Christian world of Anglo-Norman times and their aftermath.
Author: Lawrence Wilde Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317281373 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 165
Book Description
The 500th anniversary of the first publication of Thomas More’s Utopia invites a reappraisal of its significance, not just as an ironic and playful fiction, but as a serious contribution to social and political thought. More delivers a searing critique of the injustices of his time and imagines a radical alternative based on common ownership and representative government. In this new interpretation, Wilde surveys the context from which Utopia emerged and analyses its key themes – politics, economics, social relations, crime and punishment, war and religion. Although the society of the Utopians is created as a remedy to the ailments of the old world, there are restrictions on individual freedom which reflect More’s suspicion of human nature’s innate fragility. Wilde argues that this should not detract from the power of the book in challenging the root causes of inequality and oppression. The true legacy of Utopia lies in its plea for social justice in the face of a world driven by greed and the lust for power. A compelling case is made for the continued relevance of this masterpiece, a legacy that should not be diminished by attempts to discredit More’s character, which are dealt with here in the epilogue. Offering a new perspective on this important historical text, this book is essential reading for students and scholars working in radical politics, the history of social thought and literature, as well as anyone interested in learning more about this fascinating work.
Author: Rosamond McKitterick Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521362900 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 1186
Book Description
The sixth volume of The New Cambridge Medieval History covers the fourteenth century, a period dominated by plague, other natural disasters and war which brought to an end three centuries of economic growth and cultural expansion in Christian Europe, but one which also saw important developments in government, religious and intellectual life, and new cultural and artistic patterns. Part I sets the scene by discussion of general themes in the theory and practice of government, religion, social and economic history, and culture. Part II deals with the individual histories of the states of western Europe; Part III with that of the Church at the time of the Avignon papacy and the Great Schism; and Part IV with eastern and northern Europe, Byzantium and the early Ottomans, giving particular attention to the social and economic relations with westerners and those of other civilisations in the Mediterranean.
Author: Robert Fossier
Author: Robert Fossier
Author: Brendan Smith
Author: Daniel Waley
Author: Regis J. Armstrong
Author: Robert Fossier
Author: Michael A. Ryan
Author: Norman Golb
Author: Lawrence Wilde
Author: Rosamond McKitterick