The Flight and Fall of the Eagle: A History of Medieval Germany 800-1648

by John R. Sommerfeldt

Overview

The intellectual, cultural, and political renaissance that characterized the Europe of Charlemagne was threatened severely by invasions from all sides. Only Germany avoided the consequent phenomenon of feudalism. This was due to a series of rulers who provided protection to the people, reform to the Church, and patronage of cultural revival. From the thirteenth century, this cultural and political unity began to fragment, and by 1648 what had been a successful revival of the Roman Empire had been destroyed. In addition to tracing the political, cultural and religious history of medieval Germany, this volume examines the thought of outstanding German men and women, and includes an extensive account of the changing status of German Jews.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761868385
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/25/2016
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

John R. Sommerfeldt is professor emeritus at the University of Dallas. He was the founder of the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University and, for many years, hosted the International Congress on Medieval Studies held each year at that University. In 1972 he came to the University of Dallas to serve as its president. He then returned to teaching at that university until 2010 when he retired and was made professor emeritus. He has written or edited thirty volumes on matters intellectual and cultural.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. The Eagle is Born
2. Restoring the Roman Empire

1. Prelude to Empire
2. The Carolingians Replaced
3. Protecting the Homeland
4. Creating a State
5. Enlisting Leaders of the Church
6. Administering the Kingdom
7. Italy and Empire
8. The Ottonian Renaissance

1. Hrotswitha of Gandersheim
2. The End of the Old Warrior’s Campaign

1. Growing Peace and Prosperity

1. The Agricultural Revolution
2. Otto II: Advances and Setbacks
3. Sources of Strength
4. A Flourishing Culture

1. A Vision of Christendom

1. The Early Years of Otto III
2. Pope Sylvester II
3. Adelbert of Prague, Boleslav the Bold, and Stephen of Hungary
4. Church Reform and Roman Restoration
5. Intellectual Life Under Otto III
6. The End of the Reign

1. Reform and Imperial Theocracy

1. The King and Emperor
2. Episcopal and Monastic Reform
3. Imperial Theocracy
4. The Making of the Theocrat
5. The Governance of the Empire
6. Universality and Regionalism

1. The Construction of a State

1. Choosing the King
2. The Governance of the Realm
3. The Triumphant Warrior and Diplomat
4. Conrad and the Church
5. Death and Legacy

Map: The Empire in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries

1. Apogee of Empire

1. The Accession of Henry III
2. The Governance of the Realm
3. Dealing with Dukes and Kings
4. Defending Frontiers
5. The Benevolent Theocrat
6. The Reform Captures Rome

1. The Investiture Conflict

1. Reform: The Second Phase
2. Henry IV
3. The Battle is Joined
4. The Roots of the Struggle

1. The Great Settlement

1. Henry V Ascends the Throne
2. Pursuing a Compromise
3. The Resolution

1. Kings, Cistercians, and Crusades

1. Lothar the Saxon
2. Cistercians and the Third Stage of the Reform
3. The Schism of 1130
4. The Reign of Conrad III
5. Calling a New Crusade
6. The Journey to the East
7. The Other Crusades

1. Three Gifted Germans

1. Anselm of Havelberg and the Idea of Progress
2. Hildegard of Bingen: The Sibyl of the Rhine
3. Otto of Freising Offers a Mirror for Princes

1. The Red-Bearded Ruler

1. The Long Reign Begins
2. Building a Power Base
3. Capturing the Church
4. Taming the Most Powerful
5. The First Italian Expedition and the Diet of Besançon
6. The Second Expedition and the Diet of Roncaglia
7. The Third and Fourth Expeditions
8. The Fifth and Sixth Expeditions

1. The Defiance of Henry the Lion
2. The Third Crusade
3. The Legacy
4. Assessments

1. The Flowering of Medieval German Literature
2. The Turning Point

1. Henry VI, an Ambitious Emperor
2. Pope Innocent III
3. The Much-disputed Succession
4. The End of the Ottonian Empire

1. Political Reconstitution

1. The Failure of Imperial Rule
2. The Golden Bull
3. Continuing Decentralization
4. Territorialism

1. The Late Medieval Laity

1. The Governing and Military Classes
2. Merchants, Manufacturers, and Tradesmen
3. The Farmers’ Life
4. Pandemic and Persecution

1. Thirteenth-Century Friars and Holy Women

1. Blackfriars
2. Holy Women

1. Fourteenth-Century Spiritual Leaders

1. Meister Eckhart
2. John Tauler
3. Henry Suso
4. John Ruusbroec
5. Gert Groote and the Devotio Moderna

1. The Failure of the Institutional Church

1. The Late Medieval Papacy
2. The Babylonian Captivity
3. The German Church: The Bishops
4. The German Church: Parish Life
5. Popular Piety
6. Indulgences

1. The Cusanus

1. Youth and Education
2. The Council of Basel
3. The Mission to Constantinople
4. The Papal Legate
5. The Reforming Cardinal
6. The Bishop of Brixen
7. The Wide Range of Intellectual Concerns
8. The Last Days

1. The Death of the Eagle

1. Two German Reformers
2. The Indulgence Controversy
3. Biblical Editions and Translations
4. Grace and Free Choice
5. The Churches Split
6. The Thirty Years’ War

Indices
Index I: Most Important Persons
Index II: Lands, Peoples, and Their Languages
Index III: Cities and Towns
Index IV: Major Monasteries
Index V: Principal Physical Features
Genealogical Tables
The Saxon and Salian Kings of Germany
The Hohenstaufen and Their Rivals
The Luxemburg, Habsburg, and Wittelbach Rulers