Property and Power in the Early Middle Ages / Edition 1

by Wendy Davies, Paul Fouracre

Overview

This is a collection of original essays on the relationship between property and power, a fundamental theme in medieval history. It addresses four main issues: the meaning of power over property; the ways in which property conveyed power; the nature of immunities; and the power of royal authority to affect property relations. The areas studied include Wales, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Byzantium, and the essays range across the period 650-1150.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521522250
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/08/2002
Edition description:	FIRST
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

List of maps; Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The ideology of sharing: apostolic community and ecclesiastical property in the early middle ages David Ganz; 2. Teutsind, Witlaic and the history of Merovingian precaria Ian Wood; 3. Eternal light and earthly needs: practical aspects of the development of Frankish immunities Paul Fouracre; 4. The wary widow Janet Nelson; 5. Lordship and justice in the early English kingdom: Oswaldslow revisited Patrick Wormald; 6. Adding insult to injury: power, property, and immunities in early medieval Wales Wendy Davies; 7. Property transactions and social relations between rulers, bishops and nobles in early eleventh-century Saxony: the evidence of the Vita Meinwerci Timothy Reuter; 8. Monastic exemptions in tenth- and eleventh-century Byzantium Rosemary Morris; 9. Property ownership and signorial power in twelfth-century Tuscany Chris Wickham; 10. Conclusion: property and power in early medieval Europe; Glossary.

Editorial Reviews

"...the authors have certainly provided a series of good examples about how one may read and interpret the characters from the time." COnstance B. Bouchard, Journal of Economic History

"This welcome book may be likened to one of those admirable chamber ensembles that perfom music without conductor." Thomas N. Bisson, Speculum

"This collection of essays on a single theme by Britain's leading early medievalists is a rich and ambitious book. Like the rich, it exudes quality, elegance, and confidence, and like the ambitious, it applies considerable energy to hug tasks." Richard Gerberding, The American Journal of Legal History

From the Publisher