The centuries following the collapse of the Roman Empire saw extraordinary change across Western Europe - in institutions, social structure, rural and urban life, religion, learning, scholarship and art. This innovative textbook provides students coming to the study of Early Medieval Europe for the first time with the conceptual and methodological tools to investigate the period for themselves. It identifies major research questions and historiographical debates and offers guidance on how to engage with and evaluate the major documentary sources and the evidence of art history and archaeology. Ideally structured to support courses and classes in Medieval European history, the book's features include: Over 50 carefully selected maps and illustrations accompanied by explanatory commentary Detailed guidance on further reading with research questions to aid understanding Timelines and maps to orientate the reader in each chapter An extensive companion website providing practical study guidance, reference materials and access to further primary sources Offering a road map to the rich written and non-written sources for this period, and the exciting recent scholarship, this book is an essential guide for any student wishing to gain a deeper level of understanding and greater confidence in creative and independent historical thought.

Early Medieval Europe 300-1050 provides students with the conceptual and methodological tools to investigate this complex period. This new edition extends beyond Western Europe to include the research on the Byzantine Empire, Moslem lands, and North Atlantic. It is an essential resource for students studying this period for the first time.

Fully updated and revised, this edition of a classic medieval source collection features: Clear modern English translations, based on the best available critical editions, of more than 116 documentary sources—more than any other book of its kindThirty-four artifactual sources ranging from fine art to everyday itemsA broad topical, geographical, and chronological approach, including textual and artifactual selections that shed light on such often-overlooked cohorts as women, Jews in Christian Europe, Byzantium, and Islam, and that range in time from the second century to 1493Introductions and notes setting each source in its historical contextA detailed Student's Guide providing step-by-step instruction on how to analyze documentary and artifactual sourcesNumerous illustrations in each chapterTopical Contents and a Glossary to assist students in their research

A Source Book for Mediæval History is a scholarly piece by Oliver J. Thatcher. It covers all major historical events and leaders from the Germania of Tacitus in the 1st century to the decrees of the Hanseatic League in the 13th century.

This book presents an overview of the results of the research project DESPAMED funded by the Spanish Minister of Economy and Competitiveness. The aim of the book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social inequality and social complexity in early medieval peasant communities in North-western Iberia.

Examining the developments in the political and religious landscape of Western Europe between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, Power and Faith explores the origins of dominant nation Sates and religious institutions in the West emerged out of the fractured and fragmented post-Carolingian world. As a foundational text for those new to the period, the book offers a clear chronological framework for understanding and analysing the emerging polities of Western Europe and an examination of the influence of the Papacy and the Crusades across Christian life and culture. Mixed with careful consideration of major social and economic themes including urbanisation, rural revolution, and the role of women in politics, religion, and society, the book gives a uniquely comprehensive overview of political and religious developments in Western Europe during a neglected yet fundamentally significant period. The book is divided into six parts, part one sets out the scope and aims of the book and discusses the sources used. Parts two and six provide overviews of the political and religious states of affairs in Europe at the start and end of the period respectively. Framed by these sections, the book is divided into three chronologically-ordered parts each containing three chapters, the first offers a brief account of the main historiography of the period concerned, the second provides a thorough account and analysis of the main political developments across Europe during it and the third explores the main religious changes. Power and Faith is an essential introductory guide for students and researchers interested in politics, religion, and society in Western Europe during the middle ages.

The book outlines the historical development of Public Law and the state from ancient times to the modern day, offering an account of relevant events in parallel with a general historical background, establishing and explaining the relationships between political, religious, and economic events.

A "lively and engaging" history of the Middle Ages (Dallas Morning News) from the acclaimed historian William Manchester, author of The Last Lion. From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester leads us from a civilization tottering on the brink of collapse to the grandeur of its rebirth: the dense explosion of energy that spawned some of history's greatest poets, philosophers, painters, adventurers, and reformers, as well as some of its most spectacular villains. "Manchester provides easy access to a fascinating age when our modern mentality was just being born." --Chicago Tribune

This volume explores the nature of power - the power of kings, emperors and popes - through the places that these rulers created or developed, including palaces, cities, landscapes, holy places, inauguration sites and burial places. Ranging across all of Europe from the 1st to the 16th centuries, David Rollason examines how these places conveyed messages of power and what those messages were.

The extraordinary array of images included in this volume reveals the full and rich history of the Middle Ages. Exploring material objects from the European, Byzantine and Islamic worlds, the book casts a new light on the cultures that formed them, each culture illuminated by its treasures. The objects are divided among four topics: The Holy and the Faithful; The Sinful and the Spectral; Daily Life and Its Fictions, and Death and Its Aftermath. Each section is organized chronologically, and every object is accompanied by a penetrating essay that focuses on its visual and cultural significance within the wider context in which the object was made and used. Spot maps add yet another way to visualize and consider the significance of the objects and the history that they reveal. Lavishly illustrated, this is an appealing and original guide to the cultural history of the Middle Ages.