|
Books > History > World history > 500 to 1500
|
Buy Now
Social Change in Town and Country in Eleventh-Century Byzantium (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R2,836
Discovery Miles 28 360
|
|
|
Social Change in Town and Country in Eleventh-Century Byzantium (Hardcover)
Series: Oxford Studies in Byzantium
Expected to ship within 12 - 19 working days
|
The history of Byzantium pivots around the eleventh century, during
which it reached its apogee in terms of power, prestige, and
territorial extension, only then to plunge into steep political
decline following serious military defeats and extensive
territorial losses. The political, economic, and intellectual
history of the period is reasonably well understood, but not so
what was happening in that crucial intermediary sphere, the social
order, which both shaped and was shaped by contemporary ideas and
brute economic developments. This volume aims to deepen
understanding of Byzantine society by examining material evidence
for settlements and production in different regions and by sifting
through the far from plentiful literary and documentary sources in
order to track what was happening in town and country. There is
evidence of significant change: the pattern of landownership
continued to shift in favour of those with power and wealth, but
there was sustained and effective resistance from peasant villages.
Provincial towns prospered in what was an era of sustained economic
growth, and, through newly emboldened local elites, took a more
active part in public affairs. In the capital the middling classes,
comprising much of officialdom and leading traders, gained in
importance, while the twin military and civilian elites were
merging to form a single governing class. However, despite this
social upheaval, careful analysis of these various factors by a
range of leading Byzantine historians and archaeologists leads to
the overarching conclusion that it was not so much internal
structural changes which contributed to the vertiginous decline
suffered by Byzantium in the late eleventh century, as the
unprecedented combination of dangerous adversaries on different
fronts, in the east, north, and west.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
You might also like..
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
