Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, Second Edition / Edition 2

by Barbara H. Rosenwein

Overview

Covering over one thousand years of history and containing primary source material from the European, Byzantine, and Islamic worlds, Barbara H. Rosenwein's Reading the Middle Ages, Second Edition once again brings the Middle Ages to life. Building on the strengths of the first edition, the second edition contains 40 new readings, including 13 translations commissioned especially for this book, and a stunning new 10-plate color insert entitled "Containing the Holy" that brings together materials from the Western, Byzantine, and Islamic religious traditions. Ancillary materials, including study questions, can be found on the History Matters website (www.utphistorymatters.com).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442606029
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press, Higher Education Division
Publication date:	11/18/2013
Edition description:	2nd Edition
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Barbara H. Rosenwein is Professor Emerita, Department of History, Loyola University Chicago. She is the author of many books, including Generations of Feeling: A History of Emotions (600—1700), What Is the History of Emotions? (with Riccardo Cristiani), The Middle Ages in 50 Objects (with Elina Gertsman), A Short History of the Middle Ages, and Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World.

Table of Contents

Preface
Abbreviations and Symbols
Abbreviations for the Authorized Version of the Bible

Chapter 1: Prelude: The Roman World Transformed (c.300—c.600)

A Christianized Empire
1.1 Toleration or favoritism? Edict of Milan (313)
1.2 Law: The Theodosian Code (438)
1.3 Plague: Gregory the Great, Letter to Bishop Dominic of Carthage (600)

Heresy and Orthodoxy
1.4 Heretics: A Donatist Sermon (c.318)
1.5 Orthodoxy's declaration: The Nicene Creed (325)

Patristic Thought
1.6 Relating this world to the next: Augustine, The City of God (413—426)
1.7 Monasticism: The Benedictine Rule (c.530—c.560)

Saintly Models
1.8 The virginal life: Jerome, Letter 24 (To Marcella) (384)
1.9 The eremetical life: Athanasius, Life of St. Antony of Egypt (357)
1.10 The active life: Sulpicius Severus, The Life of St. Martin of Tours (397)
1.11 St. Radegund as ascetic: Venantius Fortunatus, The Life of St. Radegund (before c.600)
1.12 St. Radegund as relic collector: Baudonivia, The Life of St. Radegund (c.600)

Barbarian Kingdoms
1.13 Gothic Italy as Rome's heir: Cassiodorus, Variae (State Papers) (c.507—536)
1.14 Gothic Spain converts: The Third Council of Toledo (589)
1.15 Merovingian Gaul's bishop-historian: Gregory of Tours, History (576—594)

Timeline for Chapter One

Chapter 2: The Emergence of Sibling Cultures (c.600—c.750)

The Resilience of Byzantium
2.1 Byzantine village life and the education of a saint: The Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon (7th c.)
2.2 The argument for icons: John of Damascus, On Holy Images (730s or early 750s)
2.3 The iconoclastic argument: The Synod of 754
2.4 Vilifying the iconoclasts: The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor (before 818)

The Formation of the Islamic World
2.5 Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry: Al-A'sha, Bid Hurayra Farewell (before 625)
2.6 The sacred text: Qur'an Suras 1, 53:1—18, 81, 87, 96, 98 (c.610—622)
2.7 Umayyad diplomacy: The Treaty of Tudmir (713)
2.8 Taxation: A Tax Demand in Egypt (710)
2.9 Praising the caliph: Al-Akhtal, The Tribe Has Departed (c.692)

The Impoverished but Inventive West
2.10 A world explained by words: Isidore of Seville, Etymologies (c.615—c.630)
2.11 A modern martyr in Francia: The Passion of Leudegar (680s)
2.12 The settlement of disputes: Judgment of Childebert III (709 or 710)
2.13 Reforming the Continental church: Letters to Boniface (723—726)
2.14 Creating a Roman Christian identity for England: Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731)

Timeline for Chapter Two

Chapter 3: Creating New Identities (c.750—c.900)

The Material Basis of Society
3.1 Manors in the West: Polyptyque of the Church of Saint Mary of Marseille (814—815)
3.2 Byzantine guilds: The Book of the Prefect (886—912)
Map 3.1 Major European Slave Exports (700—900)
3.3 The sale of a slave in Italy: A Contract of Sale (725)

The Abbasid Reconfiguration
3.4 An early view of the Prophet: Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad (754—767)
3.5 Hadith: Al-Bukhari, On Fasting (9th c.)
3.6 The “New Poetry”: Abu Nuwas, Turning the Tables (c.800)

Al-Andalus
3.7 The minority—that is, Christian—view: Chronicle of Albelda (c.883)
3.8 An Islamic Andalusian voice: Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi, I Have Never Seen (before 940)
3.9 A Jewish poet in al-Andalus: Dunash ben Labrat, There Came a Voice (mid-10th c.)

The Western Church and Empire
3.10 The pope and the Carolingians: Pope Stephen II, Letters to King Pippin III (755—756)
3.11 Charlemagne as Roman emperor: Einhard, Life of Charlemagne (825—826?)
3.12 Modeling the state on Old Testament Israel: The Admonitio Generalis (789)
3.13 Ideals of family and fidelity: Dhuoda, Handbook for Her Son (841—843)

Expanding Christianity
3.14 The Slavic conversion: Constantine/Cyril, Prologue to the Gospel (863—867)
3.15 The Bulgarian Khan in Byzantine guise: Seal of Boris-Michael (864—889)
3.16 The Bulgarians adopt Christianity: Pope Nicholas I, Letter to Answer the Bulgarians' Questions (866)

Timeline for Chapter Three

Chapter 4: Political Communities Reordered (c.900—c.1050)

Regionalism: Its Advantages and Its Discontents
4.1 Fragmentation in the Islamic world: Al-Tabari, The Defeat of the Zanj Revolt (c.915)
4.2 The powerful in the Byzantine countryside: Romanus I Lecapenus, Novel (934)
4.3 Donating to Cluny: Cluny's Foundation Charter (910) and various charters of donation (10th—11th c.)
4.4 Love and complaints in Angouleme: Agreement between Count William of the Aquitanians and Hugh IV of Lusignan (1028)
4.5 The Peace of God at Bourges: Andrew of Fleury, The Miracles of St. Benedict (1040—1043)
4.6 A castellan's revenues and properties in Catalonia: Charter of Guillem Guifred (1041—1075)

Byzantine Expansion
4.7 Military life: Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Military Advice to His Son (950—958)
4.8 Imperial rule: Michael Psellus, Portrait of Basil II (c.1063)

Scholarship across the Islamic World
4.9 Education: Al-Qabisi, A Treatise Detailing the Circumstances of Students and the Rules Governing Teachers and Students (before 1012)
4.10 Political theory: Al-Farabi, The Perfect State (c.940—942)
4.11 Logic: Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Treatise on Logic (1020s or 1030s)

Kingdoms in East Central Europe
4.12 Hungary as heir of Rome: King Stephen, Laws (1000—1038)
4.13 Coming to terms with Catholic Poland: Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicle (1013—1018)
4.14 Poland's self-image: Boleslaw's Coin (992—1000)
4.15 Kievan Rus': The Russian Primary Chronicle (c.1113, incorporating earlier materials)

Northern Europe
4.16 An Ottonian courtier/bishop: Ruotger, Life of Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne (late 960s)
4.17 Literacy: King Alfred, Prefaces to Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care (c.890)
4.18 Law: King Athelred, Law Code (1008)
4.19 Christianity comes to Denmark: The Jelling Monument (960s)

Timeline for Chapter Four

Containing the Holy
Plate 1 Dome of the Rock (692)
Plate 2 Icon with Saint Demetrios (2nd half 10th c.)
Plate 3 Reliquary Locket (10th—11th c.)
Plate 4 Page from a Qur'an (993)
Plate 5 A Holy Vestment (late 10th—early 11th c.)
Plate 6 Tlemcen, Great Mosque (1236)
Plate 7 The Church as Reliquary: Sainte-Chapelle (1248)
Plate 8 Monstrance (c.1430)
Plate 9 Synagogue and Ark (1435)
Plate 10 The Wienhausen Sepulcher (15th c.)

Reading Through Looking
Plate 11 Seal of Boris-Michael (864—889)
Plate 12 Boleslaw's Coin (992—1000)
Plate 13 The Jelling Monument (960s)
Plate 14 The Bayeux Tapestry (end of the 11th c.)
Plate 15 Gabriel de Valseca, Portolan Map (1447)

Chapter 5: The expansion of western Europe (c.1050—c.1150)

Commercial Take Off
5.1 Cultivating new lands: Frederick of Hamburg's Agreement with Colonists from Holland (1106)
5.2 Ibn 'Abdun, Regulations for the Market at Seville (early 12th c.)
5.3 The role of royal patronage: Henry I, Privileges for the Citizens of London (1130—1133)

Church Reform
5.4 The royal view: Henry IV, Letter to Gregory VII (1075)
5.5 The papal view: Gregory VII, Letter to Hermann of Metz (1076)

The Clergy in Action
5.6 Vesting Prayers (c.1000?)
5.7 The Star of Clerics (c.1200?)
5.8 A Visitation Record (1268)

The Crusades and Reconquista
5.9 Martyrs in the Rhineland: Rabbi Eliezer b. Nathan (“Raban”), O God, Insolent Men (early to mid-12th c.)
5.10 A Westerner in the Holy Land: Stephen of Blois, Letter to His Wife (March 1098)
5.11 The Muslim reaction: Ibn al-Athir, The First Crusade (13th c.)
5.12 The crusade in Spain and Portugal: The Conquest of Lisbon (1147—1148)

The Norman Conquest of England
5.13 The pro-Norman position: William of Jumieges, The Deeds of the Dukes of the Normans (c.1070)
5.14 The native position: “Florence of Worcester,” Chronicle of Chronicles (early 12th c.)
5.15 The Conquest depicted: The Bayeux Tapestry (end of the 11th c.)
5.16 Exploiting the Conquest: Domesday Book (1087)

The Twelfth-Century Renaissance
5.17 Logic: Abelard, Glosses on Porphyry (c.1100)
5.18 Medical science: Constantine the African's translation of Johannitius's Isagoge (before 1098)
5.19 The healing power of stones: Marbode of Rennes, The Book of Stones (late 11th c.)

Cluniacs and Cistercians
5.20 The Cistercian view: St. Bernard, Apologia (1125)
5.21 The Cluniac view: Peter the Venerable, Miracles (mid-1130s—mid-1150s)

Timeline for Chapter Five

Chapter 6: Institutionalizing Aspirations (c.1150—c.1250)

The Crusades Continue
6.1 The Northern Crusades: Helmold, The Chronicle of the Slavs (1167—1168)
6.2 The Fourth Crusade: Nicetas Choniates, O City of Byzantium (c.1215)

Grounding Justice in Royal Law
6.3 English common law: The Assize of Clarendon (1166)
6.4 English litigation on the ground: The Costs of Richard of Anstey's Lawsuit (1158—1163)
6.5 The legislation of a Spanish king: The Laws of Cuenca (1189—1193)

Local Laws and Arrangements
6.6 A manorial court: Proceedings for the Abbey of Bec (1246)
6.7 Doing business: A Genoese societas (1253)
6.8 Women's work: Guild Regulations of the Parisian Silk Fabric Makers (13th c.)
6.9 Men's work: Guild Regulations of the Shearers of Arras (1236)

Bureaucracy at the Papal Curia
6.10 The growth of papal business: Innocent III, Letters (1200—1202)
6.11 Petitioning the papacy: Register of Thomas of Hereford (1281)
6.12 Mocking the papal bureaucracy: The Gospel According to the Marks of Silver (c.1200)

Confrontations
6.13 Henry II and Becket: Constitutions of Clarendon (1164)
6.14 Emperor and pope: Diet of Besançon (1157)
6.15 King and nobles: Magna Carta (1215)

Caring for the Body
6.16 The abbot of Cluny seeks medical help: Letters between Peter the Venerable and Doctor Bartholomew (c.1151)
6.17 A doctor's bedside manner: Advice from “Archimatthaeus” (2nd half of 12th c.)

Vernacular Literature
6.18 A troubadour love song: Bernart de Ventadorn, When I see the lark (c.1147—c.1170)
6.19 A trobairitz love song: La Comtessa de Dia, I have been in heavy grief (late 12th—early 13th c.)
6.20 A political song from the south of France: Bertran de Born, Half a sirventés I'll sing (1190)
6.21 Fabliaux: Browny, The Priest's Cow and The Priest Who Peeked (13th c.)
6.22 Romance: Chretien de Troyes, Lancelot (c.1177—1181)

New Developments in Religious Sensibilities
6.23 Disciplining and purifying Christendom: Decrees of Lateran IV (1215)
6.24 Devotion through poverty: Peter Waldo in The Chronicle of Laon (1173—1178)
6.25 Devotion through mysticism: Jacques de Vitry, The Life of Mary of Oignies (1213)
6.26 The mendicant movement: St. Francis, The Canticle to Brother Sun (1225)
6.27 Religious feeling turned violent: Chronicle of Trier (1231)

Timeline for Chapter Six

Chapter 7: Discordant Harmonies (c.1250—c.1350)

East Central Europe in Flux
7.1 The Mongol Challenge: The Secret History of the Mongols (first half of the 13th c.)
7.2 A Mongol reply to the pope: Guyuk Khan, Letter to Pope Innocent IV (1246)
7.3 The Hungarian king bewails the Mongol invasions: Bela IV, Letter to Pope Innocent IV (c.1250)
7.4 Poland as a frontier society: The Henryków Book (c.1268)
7.5 The Lithuanian duke flirts with Christianity: Duke Gediminas, Letter to Pope John XXII (1322) and Letter to the Burghers of Lübeck, Rostock, Stralsund, Griefswald, Stettin, and Gotland (May 26, 1323)
7.6 Pagan Lithuania in Christian Europe: Peter of Dusburg, Chronicle of the Prussian Land (c.1320—1326)
7.7 Bulgaria claims a saint: The Short Life of St. Petka (Paraskeve) of Tarnov (13th c.)
7.8 Bulgaria and Venice regularize commercial relations: Oath and Treaty (1347)

Transformations in the Cities
7.9 The popolo gains power: The Ghibelline Annals of Piacenza (1250)
7.10 The Hanseatic League: Decrees of the League (1260—1264)
7.11 Food scarcity at Constantinople: Athanasius I, Patriarch of Constantinople, Letter (1306—1307)
7.12 Too big to fail? A Great Bank Petitions the City Council of Siena (1298)

Heresies and Persecutions
7.13 Inquisition: Jacques Fournier, Episcopal Register (1318—1325)
7.14 Procedures for isolating lepers: Sarum Manual (based on materials from c.1360s)
7.15 Jews in England: Statute of theJewry (1275) and Petition of the “Commonalty” of the Jews (shortly after 1275)

Rulers and Ruled
7.16 A charismatic ruler: Joinville, The Life of St. Louis (1272)
7.17 The commons participate: Summons of Representatives of Shires and Towns to Parliament (1295)
7.18 The pope throws down the gauntlet: Boniface VIII, Clericis laicos (1296)
7.19 The pope reacts again: Boniface VIII, Unam sanctam (1302)
7.20 The French king responds to Boniface: William of Plaisians, Charges of Heresy against Boniface VIII (1303)
7.21 Assembly of the Estates General in Paris: Grand Chronicles of France (1314)

Modes of Thought, Feeling, and Devotion
7.22 Scholasticism: Thomas Aquinas, Summa against the Gentiles (1259—1264)
7.23 The vernacular comes into its own: Dante, Inferno, Canto V (Paolo and Francesca); Paradiso, Canto XXII (Meeting with St. Benedict) (1313—1321)
7.24 Medieval drama: Directions for an Annunciation Play (14th c.)
7.25 The feast of Corpus Christi: The Life of Juliana of Mont-Cornillon (1261—1264)

Timeline for Chapter Seven

Chapter 8: Catastrophe and Creativity (c.1350—c.1500)

The Plague
8.1 A medical view: Nicephorus Gregoras, Roman History (1350s)
8.2 Processions at Damascus: Ibn Battuta, Travels (before 1368)
8.3 Prayers at York: Archbishop William, Letter to His Official at York (July 1348)
8.4 Blaming the Jews: Heinrich von Diessenhoven, On the Persecution of the Jews (c.1350)
8.5 A legislative response: Ordinances against the Spread of Plague at Pistoia (1348)

The Ottomans
8.6 A Turkish hero: Ashikpashazade, Othman Comes to Power (late 15th c.)
8.7 Diplomacy: Peace Agreement between the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II and the Signoria of Venice (January 25, 1478)

Byzantium: Decline and Fall
8.8 Before the fall: Patriarch Anthony, Letter to the Russian Church (1395)
8.9 The fall bewailed: George Sphrantzes, Chronicle (before 1477)
8.10 After the fall: Archbishop Genady of Novgorod and Dmitry Gerasimov, The Tale of the White Cowl (end of the 15th c.)

War and Social Unrest
8.11 Chivalric and non-chivalric models: Froissart, Chronicles (c.1400)
8.12 National feeling: Jeanne d'Arc, Letter to the English (1429)
8.13 Patriotism in Italy: Petro Gentili's Speech to the Council and Citizens of Lucca (1397)
8.14 The commons revolt: Wat Tyler's Rebellion (after 1381)

Crises and Changes in the Church and Religion
8.15 The conciliarist movement: Jean Gerson, Sermon at the Council of Constance (1415)
8.16 Taking part in the life of Christ: The Book of Margery Kempe (c.1430)
8.17 The Hussite program: The Four Articles of Prague (1420)

The Renaissance
8.18 Re-evaluating antiquity: Cincius Romanus, Letter to His Most Learned Teacher Franciscus de Fiana (1416)
8.19 A new theory of art: Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting (1435—1436)
8.20 Defending women: Christine de Pisan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1404—1407)

Finding a New World
8.21 A new kind of map: Gabriel de Valseca, Portolan Map (1447)
8.22 Taking Mexico: Hernan Cortes, The Second Letter (1520)

Timeline for Chapter Eight

Sources
Index of Names, Places, and Readings

What People are Saying About This

Joseph Grossi

Barbara Rosenwein's Reading the Middle Ages, Second Edition treats us to a more multicultural and many-faceted period than was commonly studied years ago. Key literary and documentary texts from Western Europe retain their importance in this volume while a wealth of material from Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia illuminates connections with the Western medieval world. The introductions to individual texts are engagingly written and often include questions that will prove helpful in guiding students and scholars alike in their reading.

Mayke de Jong

This is a wonderfully broad selection of familiar and less familiar medieval sources. Beautifully and expertly presented, this collection of texts and images offers fresh and up-to-date insights into very different yet interconnected medieval worlds.

From the Publisher

Beautifully written, thorough, and accessible, Reading the Middle Ages, Second Edition enables readers to consider medieval culture in its broadest sense. Overall, this text inspires a thoughtful examination and re-examination of the historical narrative of nearly 1200 years; it is geographically inclusive and historically comprehensive.

This is a wonderfully broad selection of familiar and less familiar medieval sources. Beautifully and expertly presented, this collection of texts and images offers fresh and up-to-date insights into very different yet interconnected medieval worlds.

Barbara Rosenwein's Reading the Middle Ages, Second Edition treats us to a more multicultural and many-faceted period than was commonly studied years ago. Key literary and documentary texts from Western Europe retain their importance in this volume while a wealth of material from Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia illuminates connections with the Western medieval world. The introductions to individual texts are engagingly written and often include questions that will prove helpful in guiding students and scholars alike in their reading.

Rosemary Drage Hale

Beautifully written, thorough, and accessible, Reading the Middle Ages, Second Edition enables readers to consider medieval culture in its broadest sense. Overall, this text inspires a thoughtful examination and re-examination of the historical narrative of nearly 1200 years; it is geographically inclusive and historically comprehensive.