Synopses & Reviews
Covering a thousand years of history, this richly illustrated volume tells the story of the creation of Western civilization in Europe and the Mediterranean. Written by noted scholars and based on the latest research, it offers the most authoritative account of life in medieval Europe from the
fall of the Roman Empire to the coming of the Renaissance.
Exploring a period of profound diversity and change, the contributors focus on all aspects of medieval history from the empires and kingdoms of Charlemagne and the Byzantines to the new nations which fought the Hundred Years War; from the expression of religion in the great monasteries and
cathedrals to the mixed ambitions of the Crusades; and from the cultural worlds of chivalric knights, popular festivals, and new art forms to the social catastrophe of the Black Death. Divided between the Mediterranean world and northern Europe, the six chapters in this book demonstrate the movement
of the center of gravity in European life from the Mediterranean to the north. With over two hundred illustrations, including dozens in color, the volume also contains comprehensive reference material in maps, genealogies, a chronology, lists of further reading, and a full index.
Review
"The individual chapters are scholarly and up to the minute, without loss of accessibility or pace. The illustrations are many, apposite and refreshingly unhackneyed."--Times Literary Supplement
Review
"The individual chapters are scholarly and up to the minute, without loss of accessibility or pace. The illustrations are many, apposite and refreshingly unhackneyed."--Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis
Covering a thousand years of history, this richly illustrated volume tells the story of the creation of Western civilization in Europe and the Mediterranean. Written by noted scholars and based on the latest research, it offers the most authoritative account of life in medieval Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire to the coming of the Renaissance.
Exploring a period of profound diversity and change, the contributors focus on all aspects of medieval history from the empires and kingdoms of Charlemagne and the Byzantines to the new nations which fought the Hundred Years War; from the expression of religion in the great monasteries and cathedrals to the mixed ambitions of the Crusades; and from the cultural worlds of chivalric knights, popular festivals, and new art forms to the social catastrophe of the Black Death. Divided between the Mediterranean world and northern Europe, the six chapters in this book demonstrate the movement of the center of gravity in European life from the Mediterranean to the north. With over two hundred illustrations, including dozens in color, the volume also contains comprehensive reference material in maps, genealogies, a chronology, lists of further reading, and a full index.
Synopsis
From the fall of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance, the thousand years forming the medieval period were a time of tremendous change and turmoil--a millennium that witnessed the creation of Western civilization. This beautiful volume--the fourth in a superb series of Oxford Illustrated Histories--offers a lively and authoritative account of life in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean.
The great monasteries and cathedrals, the ambitions of the Crusades, chivalric knights and heroic romance, the realism of the new arts, economic and social growth, the catastrophe of plague, the growth of towns and cities, the development of commerce and banking--all of these form the substance of this history. The six chapters of the book are divided between the Mediterranean world and northern Europe, illustrating how the center of political and cultural life moved gradually northward as the centuries progressed.
Written by a team of expert scholars and incorporating the findings of the latest research, the volume features more than 200 illustrations, 24 of them in color, all carefully chosen to amplify the text. Other features of the book include maps, genealogies, a chronology, reading list, and a full index.
About the Author
About the Editor:George Holmes is a Fellow of St. Catherine's College, Oxford. His previous books include Dante and Florence, Rome, and the Origins of the Renaissance.
Table of Contents
List of Colour Plates
List of Maps
1. The Transformation of the Roman Mediterranean, 400-900, Thomas Brown
2. The Northern World in the Dark Ages, 400-900, Edward James
3. The Society of Northern Europe in the High Middle Ages, 900-1200, David Whitton
4. Northern Europe Invades the Mediterranean, 900-1200, Rosemary Morris
5. The Mediterranean in the Age of the Renaissance, 1200-1500, Peter Denley
6. The Civilization of Courts and Cities in the North, 1200-1500, Malcolm Vale
Editor's Postscript, George Holmes
Further Reading
Chronology
Index