Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation

by Michael Frassetto

Overview

The first comprehensive reference work devoted exclusively to this dark, but critical, period in the history of Western civilization.

In the Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe, medieval expert Michael Frassetto amasses the evidence for the defense—and prosecution—of this little-understood transition era in the history of Western civilization. Covering nearly 1,000 years of history—from the late ancient period through the first centuries of the Middle Ages—this concise but thorough reference work examines the key figures, places, events, and ideas of barbarian Europe.

This title chronicles the ancient Visigoths, the rule of Benedict, and the sacking of Rome. The easy-to-access alphabetical entries and essays offer more than a mere chronicling of kings and battles and explore the social and cultural history of the era, with special attention played to the role of women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781576072639
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/23/2003
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Michael Frassetto is the religion editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Editorial Reviews

Entries are lively and accurate; they treat changing interpretations of people and events and rely on primary sources for vivid detail while evaluating their usefulness . . . The work is arranged to make sources and facts easy to find by means of an alphabetical list of entries, a subject index to entries, a subject bibliography, and an index. Recommended. General readers and undergraduates.” —Choice

“This is an excellent addition to reference collections . . . This is the only volume that focuses entirely on the barbarian period. It is recommended for public and academic libraries.” —Booklist

“Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe will serve students well as a reference to the era . . . articles are detailed, explaining the importance of each entry with an accompanying bibliography at the end. In addition, a subject bibliography in the back provides students with an impressive listing of scholarly resources for their further reading and research . . . Taking those points into consideration, this work will be a useful tool on early European history for most reference sections. It is recommended for public, high school, college, and university libraries.” —American Reference Books Annual

From the Publisher

Gr 9 Up-Frassetto begins his book with an overview of historiography and a brief historical summary of Europe from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. Two-thirds of the 184 entries concentrate on individuals-both the well known and the obscure. The remaining entries look at society and culture, battles, and tribes. Other than two archaeological sites, there are no entries for specific cities, countries, or kingdoms. The author emphasizes the Franco-German regions, the Carolingians, and their predecessors. (There is little to nothing on the Slavs, Scandinavians, and Celts.) Though the chronology ends in 1000, the 10th century is slighted, with no mention of Hugh Capet (King of France, 987-996) and only a few fleeting references to the Vikings. Frassetto's writing tends to be awkward and repetitious. Some of the subject headings are odd ("King Arthur" rather than Arthur, King, "Barbarian Art," "Germanic Religion") and some topics appear more than once ("Capitularies"/"Saxon Capitularies," "Law and Law Codes"/"Salic Law"). There are no entries for feasts and festivals, ships and shipbuilding, architecture, magic and folklore, medicine, commerce and trade, diplomacy, fairs, furniture, games and pastimes, travel and transportation, social classes, prisons and punishment, and nobles and nobility. There are five woefully inadequate maps and a handful of black-and-white illustrations. Most libraries will find Matthew Bunson's broader, more expansive Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (Facts On File, 1995) is a better choice. Concise, thorough, and comprehensive, with clear maps and drawings, it has some 2000 entries and covers major non-European cultures.-Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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