The Northern Lands: Germanic Europe, c.1270 – c.1500

Northern Europe in the late Middle Ages was in many ways distinct from the areas bordering the Mediterranean that were more directly influenced by vestiges of the Roman Empire. The northern lands developed a separate regional identity with broadly common cultural, political, economic, and social features. Scholars, however, have tended to ignore elements of this regional identity that survived beyond 1200.

The Northern Lands: Germanic Europe, c.1270–c.1500 explores the region bordering the North and Baltic Seas, an area which remained more culturally and economically integrated during the late Middle Ages than scholars have generally perceived. The first part of the book provides the reader with context, with broad overviews of England, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, and the Holy Roman Empire during the late medieval period, followed by an analysis of the distinctive features, similarities, and differences of their governing institutions and laws. Further chapters explore themes including rural elites, family law and structures across social orders, urban society and government, and the development of a commercial and financial network.

The Northern Lands will stimulate further debate and advance ongoing research into the unique regional identity that blossomed in northern Europe during the late medieval period.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part I: Of Dynasty, Diplomacy and Rebellion: Kingdoms, Principalities and Federations in the Northern Lands:

1. Late Medieval England

2. The Low Countries: Crossroads of the Northern Lands

3. Denmark, Scandinavia and the German Baltic Coast

4. Crown, Princes and States in Late Medieval Germany

Part II: The Bonds of Community: Statecraft, Sovereignty, Law and Language:

5. The Administration of Sovereignty

6. Law and Justice

7. Language, Group Identity and Proto–National Consciousness

Part III: The Strategies of Lineage:

8. Comparative Elites

9. The Family and Gender Relations in the Northern Lands

Part IV: Urbanization and Trade: The Northern Lands as an Economic Region:

10. Urbanization in the Northern Lands

11. The Commercial Integration of the Northern Lands

Conclusion: Of Integration, Disintegration and Reorientation

Illustration Sources and Credits

Bibliography

Index

David Nicholas is Kathryn and Calhoun Lemon Professor Emeritus of History at Clemson University. He is the author or editor of 15 books and numerous scholarly articles. He has received fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

The Northern Lands is a learned work, and its premises are thought–provoking, but it is not quite the synthesis that readers might expect.   (English Historical Review, 2012)

"The Northern Lands is an unusual, brave, and challenging work of a sort to be attempted only by a widely read medievalist . . . more generous–minded medievalists, whatever their special interests, will benefit from reading and pondering this bold, interesting, and valuable book." (Speculuma Journal of Medieval Studies, 1 July 2010)

"Nicholas′s scholarly range in this work is impressive." (Alpata, Spring 2010)

"The frequent citations to an extensive bibliography make this a valuable reference and resource for collections in English history or other national surveys." (CHOICE, September 2009)

"Well worth reading, and has to be acknowledged as a significant contribution to the writings on northern European history." ( The Medieval Review, February 2010)