The Roman empire tends to be seen as a whole whereas the early middle ages tends to be seen as a collection of regional histories, roughly corresponding to the land-areas of modern nation states. As a result, early medieval history is much more fragmented, and there have been few convincing syntheses of socio-economic change in the post-Roman world since the 1930s. In recent decades, the rise of early medieval archaeology has also transformed our source-base, but this has not been adequately integrated into analyses of documentary history in almost any country. In Framing the Early Middle Ages Chris Wickham aims at integrating documentary and archaeological evidence together, and also, above all, at creating a comparative history of the period 400-800, by means of systematic comparative analyses of each of the regions of the latest Roman and immediately post-Roman world, from Denmark to Egypt (only the Slav areas are left out). The book concentrates on classic socio-economic themes, state finance, the wealth and identity of the aristocracy, estate management, peasant society, rural settlement, cities, and exchange. These are only a partial picture of the period, but they are intended as a framing for other developments, without which those other developments cannot be properly understood. Wickham argues that only a complex comparative analysis can act as the basis for a wider synthesis. Whilst earlier syntheses have taken the development of a single region as 'typical', with divergent developments presented as exceptions, this book takes all different developments as typical, and aims to construct a synthesis based on a better understanding of difference and the reasons for it. This is the most ambitious and original survey of the period ever written.
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The Roman empire tends to be seen as a whole whereas the early middle ages tends to be seen as a collection of regional histories, roughly corresponding to the land-areas of modern nation states.
PART I: STATES ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Geography and Politics ; 3. The Form of the State ; PART II: ARISTOCRATIC POWER-STRUCTURES ; 4. Aristocracies ; 5. Managing the Land ; 6. Political Breakdown and State-Building in the North ; PART III: PEASANTRIES ; 7. Peasants and Local Societies: Case Studies ; 8. Rural Settlement and Village Societies ; 9. Peasant Society and its Problems ; PART IV: NETWORKS ; 10. Cities ; 11. Systems of Exchange ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index
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history doesn't get any better
`Combining close documentary analysis with the latest archaeological research, it is extraordinarily ambitious and wide-ranging, and one of the great scholarly achievements of the year.' Dominic Sandbrook, The Daily Telegraph
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The most ambitious and original survey of the early medieval European period ever written - history on a breathtaking scale Provides a new framework for early medieval social and economic history in Europe Authoritative, comparative history of nearly every region of the post-Roman world Brings documentary and archaeological evidence together
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Chris Wickham received his DPhil from Oxford in 1975. He has taught at the University of Birmingham since then and is currently Professor of Early Medieval History. He has been editor of Past and Present since 1995.
Les mer
The most ambitious and original survey of the early medieval European period ever written - history on a breathtaking scale Provides a new framework for early medieval social and economic history in Europe Authoritative, comparative history of nearly every region of the post-Roman world Brings documentary and archaeological evidence together
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780199264490
Publisert
2005
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press
Vekt
1273 gr
Høyde
242 mm
Bredde
163 mm
Dybde
60 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
1017

Forfatter

Biographical note

Chris Wickham received his DPhil from Oxford in 1975. He has taught at the University of Birmingham since then and is currently Professor of Early Medieval History. He has been editor of Past and Present since 1995.