The dynastic centre and the provinces were linked by agents and ritual occasions. This book includes contributions by specialists examining these connections in late imperial China, early modern Europe, and the Ottoman empire, suggesting important revisions and an agenda for comparison. This title is available online in its entirety in Open Access

This book surveys how the peoples bordering the Mediterranean, North Sea, English Channel and eastern Atlantic related to the sea in all its aspects between approximately 1000-1500 A.D. How was the sea represented in poems and other writings? What kinds of boats were used and how were they built? How easy was it to navigate on short or long passages? Was seaborne trade crucial to the economy of this area? Did naval warfare loom large in the minds of medieval rulers? What can be said more generally about the lives of those who went to sea or who lived by its shores? These are the major questions which are addressed in this book, which is based on extensive research in both maritime archives and also in secondary literature. It concludes by pointing out how the relatively enclosed maritime world of Western Europe was radically changed by the voyages of the late fifteenth century across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and round Africa to India.

The power, sophistication, unity and wealth of the late Anglo-Saxon state have been underestimated. The shadow of defeat in 1066, and an assumption that the Normans brought about strong government and a unification that had not previously been there, has prevented many of the remarkable features of Anglo-Saxon society from being seen. In The Anglo-Saxon State James Campbell shows how strong, unified and well-governed Anglo-Saxon England was and how numerous and wealthy were its inhabitants. Late Anglo-Saxon England was also a country with a political class considerably wider than just the earls and thegns. William Stubbs's vision of Anglo-Saxon England as a country with real representative institutions may indeed be truer than that of his denigrators. James Campbell's work demands the rethinking of Anglo-Saxon history.

The English poet John Gower (ca. 1340-1408) wrote important Latin poems witnessing the two crucial political events of his day: the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and in 1399 the deposition of Richard II, in the Visio Anglie (A Vision of England) and Cronica tripertita (A Chronicle in Three Parts), respectively. Both poems, usually transmitted with Gower's major Latin work, Vox clamantis, are key primary sources for the historical record, as well as marking culminating points in the development of English literature. The earlier Visio Anglie is verbally derivative of numerous, varied sources, by way of its literary allusions, but is also highly original in its invention and disposition. On the other hand, the Cronica tripertita's organization, even in details, is highly derivative, and from a single source, but its verbal texture is all invented. This volume includes Latin texts of these poems of Gower, newly established from the manuscripts, with commentary on Gower's relation with the rest of the contemporary historical record and with his literary forebears and contemporaries, including Ovid, Virgil, Peter Riga, Nigel Witeker, and Godfrey of Viterbo. This volume also includes Modern English verse translations of the two poems, which are at once critically accurate and enjoyably accessible.

The vernacular Anglo-Saxon Chronicles cover the centuries which saw the making of England and its conquest by Scandinavians and Normans. After Alfred traces their development from their genesis at the court of King Alfred to the last surviving chronicle produced at the Fenland monastery of Peterborough. These texts have long been part of the English national story. Pauline Stafford considers the impact of this on their study and editing since the sixteenth century, addressing all surviving manuscript chronicles, identifying key lost ones, and reconsidering these annalistic texts in the light of wider European scholarship on medieval historiography. The study stresses the plural 'chronicles', whilst also identifying a tradition of writing vernacular history which links them. It argues that that tradition was an expression of the ideology of a southern elite engaged in the conquest and assimilation of old kingdoms north of the Thames, Trent, and Humber. Vernacular chronicling is seen, not as propaganda, but as engaged history-writing closely connected to the court, whose networks and personnel were central to the production and continuation of these chronicles. In particular, After Alfred connects many chronicles to bishops and especially to the Archbishops of York and Canterbury. The disappearance of the English-speaking elite after the Norman Conquest had profound impacts on these texts. It repositioned their authors in relation to the court and royal power, and ultimately resulted in the end of this tradition of vernacular chronicling.

This series of documents, covering the first hundred years after the Provisions of Oxford in 1258, is given in translation so that all who are interested in the history of parliament but have little Latin and less Old French may consult them.

This book charts the history and influence of the most vitriolic and successful anti-Semitic polemic ever to have been printed in the early modern Hispanic world and offers the first critical edition and translation of the text into English. First printed in Madrid in 1674, the Centinela contra judios ("Sentinel against the Jews") was the work of the Franciscan Francisco de Torrejoncillo, who wrote it to defend the mission of the Spanish Inquisition, to call for the expansion of discriminatory racial statutes and, finally, to advocate in favour of the expulsion of all the descendants of converted Jews from Spain and its empire. Francisco de Torrejoncillo combined the existing racial, theological, social and economic strands within Spanish anti-Semitism to demonize the Jews and their converted descendants in Spain in a manner designed to provoke strong emotional responses from its readership.

In The Lordship of the Isles, twelve specialists offer new insights on the rise and fall of the MacDonalds of Islay and the greatest Gaelic lordship of later medieval Scotland. Portrayed most often as either the independently-minded last great patrons of Scottish Gaelic culture or as dangerous rivals to the Stewart kings for mastery of Scotland, this collection navigates through such opposed perspectives to re-examine the politics, culture, society and connections of Highland and Hebridean Scotland from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. It delivers a compelling account of a land and people caught literally and figuratively between two worlds, those of the Atlantic and mainland Scotland, and of Gaelic and Anglophone culture. Contributors are David Caldwell, Sonja Cameron, Alastair Campbell, Alison Cathcart, Colin Martin, Tom McNeill, Lachlan Nicholson, Richard Oram, Michael Penman, Alasdair Ross, Geoffrey Stell and Sarah Thomas.

Gesta Pontificum Anglorum (History of the English Bishops) is one of the most important medieval texts written c. 1125 by one of England's key historians of the period, William, Monk of Malmesbury. It is a is a vivid narrative on the English Church, its bishoprics and monasteries, from c.600 to William's contemporary era. Conceived as a companion piece to his Gesta Regum Anglorum, this historical work was a unique enterprise, and the result is a substantial book, elegantly written, full of original information, and characterized by intelligent interpretation and judgement.
Gesta Pontificum Anglorum (History of the English Bishops) is one of the most important medieval texts written c. 1125 by one of England's key historians of the period, William, Monk of Malmesbury. It is a is a vivid narrative on the English Church, its bishoprics and monasteries, from c.600 to William's contemporary era. Conceived as a companion piece to his Gesta Regum Anglorum, this historical work was a unique enterprise, and the result is a substantial book, elegantly written, full of original information, and characterized by intelligent interpretation and judgement.
This second volume by R. M. Thomson contains an introduction and detailed commentary to accompany the Latin text and translation of the work, appearing in Volume I. The introduction presents and analyzes the reasons behind the work - its structure, its main sources and program of research, and its influence and significance. The commentary, linked to the Latin text, discusses problems and questions revealed by the work, and illustrations appear throughout.

Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books offers insights into the cultural and historical transmission and practices of martial arts, based on the corpus of the Fight Books (Fechtbucher) in 14th- to 17th-century Europe. The first part of the book deals with methodological and specific issues for the studies of this emerging interdisciplinary field of research. The second section offers an overview of the corpus based on geographical areas. The final part offers some relevant case studies. This is the first book proposing a comprehensive state of research and an overview of Historical European Martial Arts Studies. One of its major strengths lies in its association of interdisciplinary scholars with practitioners of martial arts. Contributors are Sydney Anglo, Matthias Johannes Bauer, Eric Burkart, Marco Cavina, Franck Cinato, John Clements, Timothy Dawson, Olivier Dupuis, Bert Gevaert, Dierk Hagedorn, Daniel Jaquet, Rachel E. Kellet, Jens Peter Kleinau, Ken Mondschein, Reinier van Noort, B. Ann Tlusty, Manuel Valle Ortiz, Karin Verelst, and Paul Wagner.

In this last collection of his vital, controversial, and accessible writings, Heiko A. Oberman seeks to liberate and broaden our understanding of the European Reformation, from its origins in medieval philosophy and theology through the Puritan settlers who brought Calvin's vision to the New World. Ranging over many topics, Oberman finds fascinating connections between aspects of the Reformation and twentieth-century history and thought-most notably the connection to Nazism and the Holocaust. He revisits his earlier work on the history of anti-Semitism, rejects the notion of an unbroken line from Luther to Hitler to the Holocaust, and offers a new perspective on the Christian legacy of anti-Semitism and its murderous result in the twentieth century. Oberman demonstrates how the simplifications and rigidities of modern historiography have obscured the existential spirits of such great figures as Luther and Calvin. He explores the debt of both Luther and Calvin to medieval religious thought and the impact of diverse features of "the long fifteenth century"-including the Black Death, nominalism, humanism, and the Conciliar Movement-on the Reformation.

This unique resource describes and evaluates ten of the most important events in British history between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Glorious Revolution of 1689 and its aftermath. A full chapter is devoted to each event, and each chapter includes an introduction presenting factual information in a clear, chronological order. Longer, interpretive essays explore the short-term and far-reaching ramifications of the events. Coverage for each event also includes an annotated bibliography of works suitable for students and a full-page illustration. A glossary of terms, a timeline of British history up to 1714, and a chronological list of ruling houses and monarchs help students to better understand the major developments in modern British history, along with their significance and long-term impact.

Saints and their Communities offers a new approach to the study of lay religion as evidenced in collections of miracle narratives in twelfth-century England. There are a number of problems associated with the interpretation of this hagiographical genre and an extended introduction discusses these. The first issue is the tendency to read these narratives as transparent accounts of lay religion as if it were something susceptible to static, 'ethnographic' treatment in isolation from wider social and political activities. The second issue is the challenge of explaining the miraculous as a credible part of cultural experience, without appealing to reductionist notions of a 'medieval mindset'. The third issue is the problem of how to take full account of the fact that these sources are representations of lay experience by monastic authors. The author argues that miracle narratives were the product of and helped to foster lay notions of Christian practice and identity centred on the spiritual patronage of certain enshrined saints.
The six main chapters provide fully contextualized studies of selected miracle collections. Yarrow looks at when these collections were made, who wrote them, the kinds of audiences they are likely to have reached, and the messages they were intended to convey. He shows how these texts served to represent specific cults in terms that articulated the values and interests of the institutions acting as custodians of the relics; and how alongside other programmes of textual production, these collections of stories can be linked to occasions of uncertainty or need in the life of these institutions. A concluding chapter argues the case for miracle collections asevidence of the attempt by traditional monasteries to reach out to the relatively affluent peasantry, and to urban communities in society, and their rural hinterlands with offers of protection and opportunities for them to express their social status with reference to tomb-centred sanctity.

This book aims to analyze the genesis and evolution of late Gothic painting in the Crown of Aragon and the rest of the Hispanic kingdoms, examining this phenomenon in relation to the whole context of Europe in the second half of the fifteenth century. The authors consider the influence of the Flemish primitive movement on the art produced by their Spanish colleagues, the artistic relations and interchanges with the Netherlands and other countries, and the introduction and development of the Flemish language in the Spanish lands. The book also examines altarpieces, considering topics such as changes in shape and structure and liturgical links, along with offering stylistic analyses supported by new technologies. Contributors are Joan Aliaga, Maria Antonia Argelich, Marc Balleste, Judith Berg Sobre, Carme Berlabe, Eduardo Carrero, Ximo Company, Francesca Espanol, Francesc Fite, Montserrat Jardi, Nicola Jennings, Fernando Marias, Didier Martens, Isidre Puig, Nuria Ramon, Pedro Jose Respaldiza, Stefania Rusconi, Tina Sabater, Albert Sierra, Pilar Silva, Lluisa Tolosa, Alberto Velasco, and Joaquin Yarza ().

This is the eagerly-awaited first volume of the definitive History of the British Coal Industry. Well before 1700 Britain had become heavily dependent upon coal for its fuel, and coal mining had taken its place among the nation's staple industries. John Hatcher traces the production and trade of coal from the intermittent small-scale activity which prevailed in the Middle Ages to the rapid expansion and rising importance which characterized the early modern era. Thoroughly grounded in a formidable range of sources, the book explores the economics and management of mining, the productivity and profitability of colliery enterprise, and the progress of technology. Dr Hatcher examines the owners and operators of collieries and the sources of mining capital, as well as the colliers themselves, their working conditions and earnings. He argues that the spectacular growth of coal output in this period was achieved more through evolutionary than revolutionary processes. This is a scholarly, detailed, and comprehensive study, which will be an essential source for all historians of the medieval and early modern economy, and fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the British coal industry.

This is the first comprehensive English-language collection of sources yet to treat the city of Naples from late antiquity to the beginning of the Renaissance. Sources are drawn from its historical, economic, literary, artistic, religious and cultural life from the fall of Rome through the Byzantine, ducal, Norman, Hohenstaufen and Angevin periods. The Introduction offers a comprehensive survey of the periods covered, with a discussion of the historiography and of important research and interpretive issues. These include the material development of the city from late antiquity through the end of the Angevin period, the condition and use of the available primary sources and archaeological evidence, with particular attention given to the wide variety of recent excavations and of archival materials, the question of the ruralization and recovery of its urban core through the little known ducal period, Naples' importance as a commercial and political capital, its developing economic and material base, and the issue of its relationship to its hinterland on the one hand and to broader Mediterranean contexts on the other. It also surveys changes in Naples' urban plan, its walls, fortifications and port and its commercial and residential development. For the later Middle Ages, Musto traces Naples' intellectual life and the complex historiography of what he terms the "black legend of the Angevins" and its continued impact on perceptions of Naples and the Italian South. Documents include chronicles and histories; archival materials, accounts, financial and commercial records, contracts, wills, notarial and legislative documents; poetry, romances, biographies, letters, travelers' accounts and legends; liturgical and hagiographical texts; as well as examples of manuscript production and illustration, painting and architecture. 460 pages. Preface, introduction, notes and bibliography; appendices, including the Tavola Strozzi with key, Map of Medieval Naples with thumbnail key; index. 82 readings, 74 b&w figures, plus 60 thumbnail images. Links to online resources from A Documentary History of Naples, including image galleries with over 460 additional images in full color; and to full bibliographies with ongoing supplements.

Before it fell to Muslim armies in AD 635-6 Damascus had a long and prestigious history as a center of Christianity. How did the city, which became capital of the Islamic Empire, and its people, negotiate the transition from a late antique, or early Byzantine world to an Islamic culture? In this innovative study, Nancy Khalek demonstrates that the changes that took place in Syria during the formative period of Islamic life were not a matter of the replacement of one civilization by another as a result of military conquest, but rather of shifting relationships and practices in a multi-faceted social and cultural setting. Even as late antique forms of religion and culture persisted, the formation of Islamic identity was effected by the people who constructed, lived in, and narrated the history of their city. Khalek draws on the evidence of architecture, and the testimony of pilgrims, biographers, geographers, and historians to shed light on this process of identity formation. Offering a fresh approach to the early Islamic period, she moves the study of Islamic origins beyond a focus on issues of authenticity and textual criticism, and initiates an interdisciplinary discourse on narrative, story-telling, and the interpretations of material culture.

The Religious Polemics of the Muslims of Late Medieval Christian Iberia examines the corpus of polemical literature against the Christians and the Jews of the protected Muslims (Mudejars). Commonly portrayed as communities in cultural and religious decay, Monica Colominas convincingly proves that the discourses against the Christians and the Jews in Mudejar treatises provided authoritative frameworks of Islamic normativity which helped to legitimize the residence of their communities in the Christian territories. Colominas argues that, while the primary aim of the polemics was to refute the views of their religious opponents, Mudejar treatises were also a tool used to advance Islamic knowledge and to strengthen the government and social cohesion of their communities.

Though many historians date the practice of diplomacy to the Renaissance, Pierre Chaplais shows that medieval kings relied on a network of diplomats and special envoys to conduct international relations. War, peace, marriage agreements, ransoms, trade and many other matters all had to be negotiated. To do this a remarkably sophisticated system of diplomacy developed during the Middle Ages. Chaplais describes how diplomacy worked in practice: how ambassadors and other envoys were chosen, how and where they traveled, and how the authenticity of their messages was known in a world before passports and photographs.