Table of Contents
Abbreviations and Conventions xi
Biographical Sketches xii
Medieval Myths xiii
Maps xiv
List of Figures xv
Preface to the Twelfth Edition xvii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Romans, Christians, and Barbarians 4
The Early Middle Ages 4
The Roman Peace (31 BCE-180 CE) and After 6
Christianity 11
Barbarians and the Western Empire 23
The Decline of the Western Empire 30
Conclusion 32
Chapter 2 Early Western Christendom, c. 500-700 33
Introduction 33
Early Medieval Society 34
Early Medieval Politics 38
The Early Medieval Church 47
Intellectual Life 56
Conclusion 59
Chapter 3 The Byzantine Empire, c. 500-1000 61
Introduction 61
Byzantine Government 64
Byzantine Christianity 64
Byzantine Economy and Society 68
Byzantine Culture 71
The Course of Byzantine Politics 75
Conclusion 82
Chapter 4 The Islamic Empires, c. 571-1100 83
Introduction 83
Arabia and Muhammad (c. 571-632) 84
Islam 86
The Islamic Empires 88
Islamic Culture 103
Religion, Race, and Difference 105
Conclusion 107
Chapter 5 Carolingian Europe, c. 700-850 108
Introduction 108
The Early Carolingians 110
Charlemagne (r. 768-814) 118
Intellectual Revival 125
Conclusion 131
Chapter 6 Division, Invasion, and Reorganization, c. 800-1000 133
Introduction 133
Division: The Later Carolingians 134
Invasion: Muslims, Magyars, and Vikings 135
Reorganization: New Polities 143
Conclusion 163
Chapter 7 Economic Takeoff and Social Change in the Countryside, c. 1000-1300 165
The Central Middle Ages 165
Agricultural Revolution 174
Rural Society 177
Conclusion 189
Chapter 8 Economic Takeoff and Social Change in Town and Court, c. 1000-1300 190
Introduction 190
The Commercial Revolution 191
Urban Society 198
The Landholding Aristocracy 205
Feudal Society 208
The Expansion of Education 211
Conclusion 216
Chapter 9 Popes and the Papacy, c. 1000-1300 217
Introduction 217
Papacy, Clergy, and Laity, c. 1000-1122 218
The Reformed Papacy and Its Church 225
Innocent III and the Papacy Ascendant 232
The Papacy after 1250 236
Conclusion 239
Chapter 10 New Paths to God, c. 1000-1300 240
Introduction 240
Judaism 241
The Evolution of Christian Piety 242
Orthodoxy and Heresy 248
Changes in Monastic Life 250
The Mendicant Orders 257
Conclusion 264
Chapter 11 Conquests, Crusades, and Persecutions, c. 1100-1300 265
Introduction 265
Conquests and Territorial Expansion 266
Crusades 277
Persecutions 289
Conclusion 294
Chapter 12 States Made and Unmade, c. 1000-1300 296
Introduction 296
The Holy Roman Empire: Disintegration 298
England: King and Parliament 309
France: The Monarchy Triumphant 320
Iberia: Some Consolidation 330
The States of Northern and Eastern Europe 330
Conclusion 332
Chapter 13 Literature, Art, and Thought, c. 1000-1300 333
Introduction 333
Byzantine and Islamic Influences 334
Intellectual Trends 336
Literature 349
Architecture and Sculpture 358
Conclusion 364
Chapter 14 Famine, Plague, and Recovery, c. 1300-1500 366
The Later Middle Ages 366
Economic Woes and Demographic Crisis (1300-1350) 371
Adjustment and Recovery (1350-1500) 376
Late Medieval Christianity 385
Conclusion 395
Chapter 15 Toward the Sovereign State, c. 1300-1500 396
Introduction 396
England, France, and the Hundred Years' War 397
England: Parliament, Civil War, and Tudor Monarchy 401
France: Constitutional Crisis, War, and the Spider King 404
The Iberian States: Consolidation through Homogenization 408
New Powers on the European Periphery 410
The Heritage of the Holy Roman Empire 412
Conclusion 418
Chapter 16 Diversity and Dynamism in Late Medieval Culture, c. 1300-1500 421
Introduction 421
Literacy and Vernacular Languages 422
Humanist Education 425
Literature 427
The World Beyond Europe 429
Art and Architecture 432
Philosophy 435
Political Thought 437
Conclusion 439
Glossary 441
Photo Credits 453
Index 455
