A Companion to the Medieval World

The European Middle Ages are an extraordinarily rich field of interdisciplinary study. Cultural forms and institutions central to European identity took shape during this period. The rise of Europe from an obscure backwater to cultural and colonial expansion on the world stage found it origins in the Middle Ages. In this volume 26 distinguished scholars examine major issues in the study of medieval Europe. Much recent scholarship has sought to identify and strip away later intellectual categories and seek a fresh understanding of medieval culture and society on its own terms. That approach is reflected in the articles in this volume on questions such as the end of late antiquity, reform, the crusades, the family, chivalric culture, Romanesque and Gothic architecture, Christianization and heresy. It addresses key themes such as sexuality, gender, and power and class. More traditional topics are also explored including economic and demographic expansion and change, urban politics, kingship, hospitals, education, and scholasticism. The volume is vital for European specialists and an important resource for comparative world history.

Notes on Contributors viii PART I THE MIDDLE AGES 1 1 The Idea of a Middle Ages 3 Edward D. English and Carol Lansing PART II EARLY MEDIEVAL FOUNDATIONS 7 2 Economies and Societies in Early Medieval Western Europe 9 Matthew Innes 3 Politics and Power 36 Hans Hummer 4 Religious Culture and the Power of Tradition in the Early Medieval West 67 Yitzhak Hen PART III POPULATIONS AND THE ECONOMY 87 5 Economic Takeoff and the Rise of Markets 89 James Paul Masschaele 6 Rural Families in Medieval Europe 111 Phillipp R. Schofield 7 Marriage in Medieval Latin Christendom 130 Martha Howell 8 Gender and Sexuality 161 John Arnold 9 Society, Elite Families, and Politics in Late Medieval Italian Cities 185 Edward D. English PART IV RELIGIOUS CULTURE 209 10 New Religious Movements and Reform 211 Maureen C. Miller 11 Monastic and Mendicant Communities 231 Constance H. Berman 12 Hospitals in the Middle Ages 257 James W. Brodman 13 Popular Belief and Heresy 276 Carol Lansing 14 Jews in the Middle Ages 293 Kenneth R. Stow 15 Muslims in Medieval Europe 313 Olivia Remie Constable PART V POLITICS AND POWER 333 16 Conflict Resolution and Legal Systems 335 Thomas Kuehn 17 Medieval Rulers and Political Ideology 354 Robert W. Dyson 18 Papal Monarchy 372 Andreas Meyer 19 Urban Historical Geography and the Writing of Late Medieval Urban History 397 Teofilo F. Ruiz 20 Bureaucracy and Literacy 413 Richard Britnell 21 The Practice of War 435 Clifford J. Rogers 22 Expansion and the Crusades 455 Christopher Tyerman PART VI TECHNOLOGIES AND CULTURE 475 23 Romanesque and Gothic Church Architecture 477 Stephen Murray 24 Aristocratic Culture: Kinship, Chivalry, and Court Culture 500 Richard E. Barton 25 Philosophy and Humanism 525 Stephen Gersh 26 Philosophy and Theology in the Universities 544 Philipp W. Rosemann PART VII THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES 561 27 Medieval Europe in World History 563 R. I. Moore Index 581

Carol Lansing is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on medieval Italian politics, society, and culture. Previous publications include The Florentine Magnates: Lineage and Faction in a Medieval Commune (1991), Power and Purity: Cathar Heresy in Medieval Italy (1998) and Passion and Order: Restraint of Grief in the Medieval Italian Communes (2008). Edward D. English is Executive Director of Medieval Studies and Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is finishing the first of two volumes on the society and politics of Siena in the fourteenth century. His other publications include Enterprise and Liability in Sienese Banking, 1230–1350 (1988) and The Encyclopedia of the Medieval World, 2 volumes (2005).

“Nonetheless, this Companion is an excellent manual for those who have never (or only partially) studied medieval history, as it provides clear outlines of extremely complex issues, a thought–provoking insight into historiographical and methodological trends, as well as an extremely rich bibliography to assist further investigation.”  ( English Historical Review , 1 January 2013)