Medieval Europe: a short history

Abbreviations and Conventions

Biographical Sketches

Medieval Myths

Timelines

Maps

List of Figures

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1. Romans, Christians, and Barbarians

The Early Middle Ages

The Roman Peace (31 B.C.E-180 C.E.) and After

Christianity

Barbarians and the Western Empire

The Decline of the Western Empire

Conclusion

Chapter 2. Early Western Christendom, c. 500-700

Introduction

Early Medieval Society

Early Medieval Politics

The Early Medieval Church

Intellectual Life

Conclusion

Chapter 3. Neighbors: Byzantium and Islam, c. 500-1000

Introduction

From Eastern to Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Centuries

The Ascent of Islam

The Islamic Empire

Islamic Culture

Conclusion

Chapter 4. Carolingian Europe, c. 700-850

Introduction

The Early Carolingians

Charlemagne (r. 768-814)

Intellectual Revival

Conclusion

Chapter 5. Division, Invasion, and Reorganization, c. 800-1000

Introduction

Division: The Later Carolingians

Invasion: Muslims, Magyars, and Vikings

Reorganization: New Polities

Conclusion

Chapter 6. Economic Takeoff and Social Change, c. 1000-1300

The Central Middle Ages

Agricultural Revolution

Rural Society

The Commercial Revolution

Urban Society

The Landholding Aristocracy

Feudal Society

Conclusion

Chapter 7. Popes and the Papacy, c. 1000-1300

Introduction

Papacy, Clergy, and Laity, c. 1000-1122

The Reformed Papacy and Its Church

Innocent III and the Papacy Ascendant

The Papacy after 1250

Conclusion

Chapter 8. New Paths to God, c. 1000-1300

Introduction

Judaism

The Evolution of Christian Piety

Orthodoxy and Heresy

Changes in Monastic Life

The Mendicant Orders

Conclusion

Chapter 9. Conquests, Crusades, and Persecutions, c. 1100-1300

Introduction

Conquests and Territorial Expansion

Crusades

Persecutions

Conclusion

Chapter 10. States Made and Unmade, c. 1000-1300

Introduction

The Holy Roman Empire: Disintegration

England: King and Parliament

France: The Monarchy Triumphant

Iberia: Some Consolidation

The States of Northern and Eastern Europe

Conclusion

Chapter 11. Literature, Art, and Thought, c. 1000-1300

Introduction

Byzantine and Islamic Influences

Intellectual Trends

Literature

Architecture and Sculpture

Conclusion

Chapter 12. Famine, Plague, and Recovery, c. 1300-1500

The Later Middle Ages

Economic Woes and Demographic Crisis (1300-1350)

Adjustment and Recovery (1350-1500)

Late Medieval Christianity

Conclusion

Chapter 13. Toward the Sovereign State, c. 1300-1500

Introduction

England, France, and the Hundred Years' War

England: Parliament, Civil War, and Tudor Monarchy

France: Constitutional Crisis, War, and the Spider King

The Iberian Slates: Consolidation through Homogenization

New Powers on the European Periphery

The Heritage of the Holy Roman Empire

Conclusion

Chapter 14. Diversity and Dynamism in Culture, c. 1300-1500

Introduction

Literacy and Vernacular Languages

Humanist Education

Literature

Art and Architecture

Philosophy

Political Thought

Conclusion

Glossary

Photo Credits

Index