Medieval Worlds : An Introduction to European History, 300-1492 -Text Only

This text, designed for use in one- and two-term medieval history courses, is based on a political framework that includes social and cultural history. It emphasizes both high and popular culture, exploring what life was like in the court, the city, the countryside, and academia.

The narrative emphasizes two underlying themes: the gradual development of ideas of freedom and individuality, and the slow change from an oral culture to a literate society. The text primarily focuses on Europe, but also gives extensive attention to the areas that affected Europe, such as Byzantium and the Islamic world.

• "Medieval Voices" features present excerpts from sources of the period.
• "Medieval People" features include brief biographies of significant historical figures of the period.
• The text features an extensive map and illustration program.

Preliminary Contents

Introduction: The Mentality of Medieval People

I. The Transformation of the Roman World, 100-751 C.E

1. The Roman Foundations of Medieval Europe, 100-500

Early Rome: From Republic to Empire
The Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine
The Fourth and Fifth Centuries
Continuities and Crises in the West

2. Early Christianity: From Sect to State Religion, 100-500

The Beginnings of Christianity
Rome Conquers the Christians
The Fathers of the Church

3. Barbarians Enter the Empire, 275-640

Migrating Peoples; Political Disruption
Two Kingdoms in the West: Ostrogoths and Franks
Barbarian Culture in a Late Antique World

4. Two Eastern Mediterranean Empires: Byzantines and Arabs, 300-800

Byzantium: A New Rome
Muhammad and the Religion of Islam
An Empire Rises from Arabia

II. The Early Middle Ages, 751-910 C.E

5. The Early Medieval Church in the West, 500-800

Popes, Priests, Monks, and Nuns: A Spiritual Hierarchy Emerges
The Growth and Expansion of the Church
The Cultural Consequences of Christianization

6. An Early Medieval Empire in the West: The Carolingians, 600-911

The Rise of the Carolingians
The Royal Administration
The Carolingian Cultural Revival
The Later Carolingians, 814-911

7. The British Isles: Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings, 407-980

The Early Anglo-Saxons, 407-597
Irish and Anglo-Saxons in Northumbria
The Struggle for Political Control, 730-974

8. New Influences: Vikings, Arabs, and Peoples of the Steppe and Eastern Europe, 800-1000

Slavs, Bulgars, Khazars, and Magyars: Turmoil in the East
The Vikings: Raiders and Traders from the North
Arab Conquests in the Western Mediterranean

III. The Quickening of Europe, 900-1050 C.E.

9. Land and People

Popular Conceptions of the Middle Ages
Rural Society: Life at the Local Level
Economic Revival: Technology, Towns, and Trade

10. Political Formation on the Christian Frontiers

Anglo-Saxon England After Alfred
Italian Politics, the Papacy, and Rome
From East Francia to the German Empire
Late Carolingian and Capetian France
Religion and Society

IV. Reformation and Renewal, 1050-1200 C.E.

11. Religious Revival and Reform, 1050-1200

A Rebirth of Christian Fervor
Papal Reform and Monastic Revival
Heretical Movements and the Persecution of Minorities

12. The Crusades

Origins of the Crusades
The First Crusade, 1095-1099
Life in the Holy Land
Subsequent Crusades and Reaction Against Crusade
The Larger Impact of the Crusades

13. The Development of Royal Government, 1050-1200

Authority and Constraint: Emperors, Kings, Communal Values, and Laws
Anglo-Normandy, Civil War, and the Angevin Empire
The German Empire, 1106-1190
The Capetians, 1060-1179
Monarchies on the Frontiers of Europe

14. The New Learning, 1050-1200

The Rise of Schooling
Changing Mentalities
Books and Literacy

V. The Height of Medieval Culture, 1100-1300

15. Medieval Society, 1100-1300

Peasant Society
The Rise of a Knightly Culture
The Emergence of an Urban Society
The Clergy
Non-Christians and Non-Latins

16. Church and State in the Thirteenth Century

Pope and Emperor
Emerging Nation-States: France, England, and Spain
Pressures on the Periphery of Europe
Wealth, the Appeal of Poverty, and Responses to Heresy

17. High Culture and Popular Culture in the Thirteenth Century

Encounters with "The Other"
Intellectual Trends
The Culture of Lay Society
Religious Culture

VI. The Later Middle Ages, 1300-1492 C.E.

18. Economic and Political Crisis, 1300-1450

Europe in Crisis, 1300-1450
The Black Death
Urban and Rural Economies and the Politics of Revolt
Family Life and Courtly Culture
The Hundred Years War
Nation-States and Parliaments
Stability and Instability on the Frontiers of Europe

19. Institutional and Intellectual Developments, 1300-1450

The Papacy, 1300-1378
Schism and Conciliarism
Nominalism, Mysticism, and the Devotio Moderna
Late Medieval Heresy and the Beginnings of Witchcraft Trials
Dante and Chaucer: Literary Endings and Beginnings

Epilogue: The Italian Renaissance, 1300-1492