This bibliography of works on medieval communication offers a survey of work in a field of study which, from the 1960s onwards, has seen an ever-increasing number of monographs, collections of miscellanies and articles in learned journals being published every year. It provides a guide to this astonishing output by offering a list of more than 6.700 publications under sixteen headings. Because of the overlap of these headings, a comprehensive Index of subjects, place names and personal names is provided, which will allow the user to quickly find publications relevant to his research. A short Introduction precedes the bibliography. Progress in the field of study over the past two decades is outlined, with attention to those recent developments which have proved the most productive. At the same time, something is said about the growing insights which have led the bibliography's organisation to be changed substantially since its previous edition in 1999, which already numbered 1.580 items. Not only the more than fourfold increase in the number of items made a new edition necessary therefore, but also new ideas about the best ways of organising the knowledge that is to be gained from the contents of studies of medieval communication.

‘Communication’ has become one of the most vibrant areas of current research on medieval and early modern Europe, almost paralleling the heightened popularity of conflict study since the 1980s. However, the nature of this concept seems to be ambiguous and has been defined with multiple nuances. Needless to say, communication in the Middle Ages was usually accomplished by personal presence, contact, and interaction, including conflict and its settlement. In this sense, the process of communication often comprised symbolic and ritual action. In response to concerns about the study of political communication, it should be emphasised that communication may confirm and spread certain fundamental ideas, social values and norms, bringing about certain patterns of behaviour and mentality that can be shared by members of the political body and community. The authors of these essays discuss the characteristics of political communication in medieval and early modern Europe by highlighting two aspects: ‘ritual and symbolic communication’, and ‘conflict, feuds and communication’.

This interdisciplinary handbook provides extensive information about research in medieval studies and its most important results over the last decades. The handbook is a reference work which enables the readers to quickly and purposely gain insight into the important research discussions and to inform themselves about the current status of research in the field. The handbook consists of four parts. The first, large section offers articles on all of the main disciplines and discussions of the field. The second section presents articles on the key concepts of modern medieval studies and the debates therein. The third section is a lexicon of the most important text genres of the Middle Ages. The fourth section provides an international bio-bibliographical lexicon of the most prominent medievalists in all disciplines. A comprehensive bibliography rounds off the compendium. The result is a reference work which exhaustively documents the current status of research in medieval studies and brings the disciplines and experts of the field together.

The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Central Europe summarizes the political, social, and cultural history of medieval Central Europe (c. 800-1600 CE), a region long considered a "forgotten" area of the European past. The 25 cutting-edge chapters present up-to-date research about the region's core medieval kingdoms -- Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia -- and their dynamic interactions with neighboring areas. From the Baltic to the Adriatic, the handbook includes reflections on modern conceptions and uses of the region's shared medieval traditions. The volume's thematic organization reveals rarely compared knowledge about the region's medieval resources: its peoples and structures of power; its social life and economy; its religion and culture; and images of its past.

In Rituals and Symbolic Communication in Medieval Hungary under the Árpád Dynasty (1000 - 1301) Dušan Zupka examines rituals as means of political and symbolic communication in medieval Central Europe, with a special emphasis on the rulers of the Árpád dynasty in the Kingdom of Hungary. Particular attention is paid to symbolic acts such as festive coronations, liturgical praises, welcoming of rulers (adventus regis), ritualised settlement of disputes, and symbolic rites during encounters between rulers. The power and meaning of rituals were understandable to contemporary protagonists and to their chroniclers. These rituals therefore played an essential role in medieval political culture. The book concludes with an outline of ritual communication as a coherent system.

This volume explores papal communication and its reception in the period c.1100–1300; it presents a range of interdisciplinary approaches and original insights into the construction of papal authority and local perceptions of papal power in the central Middle Ages. Some of the chapters in this book focus on the visual, ritual and spatial communication that visitors encountered when they met the peripatetic papal curia in Rome or elsewhere, and how this informed their experience of papal self-representation. The essays analyse papal clothing as well as the iconography, architecture and use of space in papal palaces and the titular churches of Rome. Other chapters explore communication over long distances and analyse the role of gifts and texts such as letters, sermons and historical writings in relation to papal communication. Importantly, this book emphasises the plurality of responses to papal communication by engaging with the reception of papal messages by different audiences, both secular and ecclesiastical, and in relation to several geographic regions including England, France, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Medieval History.

This publication considers writing and written culture against the background of all forms of communication available to a given medieval society, both in western and east-central Europe. A textbook for studying this field and an introduction to current research. It is written in accessible language for non-specialists. The volume has three sections: introductions by two of the leading exponents worldwide: Michael Clanchy and Marco Mostert; a series of essays by members of the Utrecht 'Pionierproject Verschriftelijking' which consider writing and written culture against the background of all forms of communication available to a given medieval society, both in western and east-central Europe; and a comprehensive bibliography on the subject, comprising 1500 titles which will serve as a fundamental starting-point for work in this field. Contributions include: Part 1: Michael Clanchy, 'Introduction'; Marco Mostert, 'New approaches to medieval communication?'; Part 2: Wolfert S. van Egmond, 'The intended audience of early medieval hagiographical texts'; Mary Garrison, 'Letters of excuse as evidence for literacy and communication'; Karl Heidecker, 'Communication by written texts in court cases. Some charter evidence (ca. 800 - ca. 1100); Marielle Hageman, 'Between the imperial and the sacred: the gesture of coronation in Carolingian and Ottonian images'; Anna Adamska, 'The introduction of writing in Central Europe (Poland, Hungary and Bohemia); Part 3: Marco Mostert, 'A bibliography of works on medieval communication'.

Revisiting one of the great puzzles of European political history, Jennifer R. Davis examines how the Frankish king Charlemagne and his men held together the vast new empire he created during the first decades of his reign. Davis explores how Charlemagne overcame the two main problems of ruling an empire, namely how to delegate authority and how to manage diversity. Through a meticulous reconstruction based on primary sources, she demonstrates that rather than imposing a pre-existing model of empire onto conquered regions, Charlemagne and his men learned from them, developing a practice of empire that allowed the emperor to rule on a European scale. As a result, Charlemagne's realm was more flexible and diverse than has long been believed. Telling the story of Charlemagne's rule using sources produced during the reign itself, Davis offers a new interpretation of Charlemagne's political practice, free from the distortions of later legend.

Examines research from a variety of fields, including archaeology, bio-archaeology, architecture, hagiographic literature, manuscripts, liturgy, visionary literature and eschalology, patristics, numismatics, and material culture, Diverse list of contributors, many whose research has never before been available in English, Provides substantial research regarding women's history in the Merovingian period, Expands research beyond Europe to include other cultures that came in contact with the Merovingians Book jacket.

Explains the methods and knowledge to understand how and why paper was used in medieval writing and beyond.