Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors viii

PART I THE MIDDLE AGES 1

1 The Idea of a Middle Ages 3
Edward D. English and Carol Lansing

PART II EARLY MEDIEVAL FOUNDATIONS 7

2 Economies and Societies in Early Medieval Western Europe 9
Matthew Innes

3 Politics and Power 36
Hans Hummer

4 Religious Culture and the Power of Tradition in the Early Medieval West 67
Yitzhak Hen

PART III POPULATIONS AND THE ECONOMY 87

5 Economic Takeoff and the Rise of Markets 89
James Paul Masschaele

6 Rural Families in Medieval Europe 111
Phillipp R. Schofield

7 Marriage in Medieval Latin Christendom 130
Martha Howell

8 Gender and Sexuality 161
John Arnold

9 Society, Elite Families, and Politics in Late Medieval Italian Cities 185
Edward D. English

PART IV RELIGIOUS CULTURE 209

10 New Religious Movements and Reform 211
Maureen C. Miller

11 Monastic and Mendicant Communities 231
Constance H. Berman

12 Hospitals in the Middle Ages 257
James W. Brodman

13 Popular Belief and Heresy 276
Carol Lansing

14 Jews in the Middle Ages 293
Kenneth R. Stow

15 Muslims in Medieval Europe 313
Olivia Remie Constable

PART V POLITICS AND POWER 333

16 Conflict Resolution and Legal Systems 335
Thomas Kuehn

17 Medieval Rulers and Political Ideology 354
Robert W. Dyson

18 Papal Monarchy 372
Andreas Meyer

19 Urban Historical Geography and the Writing of Late Medieval Urban History 397
Teofilo F. Ruiz

20 Bureaucracy and Literacy 413
Richard Britnell

21 The Practice of War 435
Clifford J. Rogers

22 Expansion and the Crusades 455
Christopher Tyerman

PART VI TECHNOLOGIES AND CULTURE 475

23 Romanesque and Gothic Church Architecture 477
Stephen Murray

24 Aristocratic Culture: Kinship, Chivalry, and Court Culture 500
Richard E. Barton

25 Philosophy and Humanism 525
Stephen Gersh

26 Philosophy and Theology in the Universities 544
Philipp W. Rosemann

PART VII THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES 561

27 Medieval Europe in World History 563
R. I. Moore

Index 581

About the Author

Carol Lansing is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on medieval Italian politics, society, and culture. Previous publications include The Florentine Magnates: Lineage and Faction in a Medieval Commune (1991), Power and Purity: Cathar Heresy in Medieval Italy (1998) and Passion and Order: Restraint of Grief in the Medieval Italian Communes (2008).

Edward D. English is Executive Director of Medieval Studies and Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is finishing the first of two volumes on the society and politics of Siena in the fourteenth century. His other publications include Enterprise and Liability in Sienese Banking, 1230-1350 (1988) and The Encyclopedia of the Medieval World, 2 volumes (2005).

Reviews

"...a valuable reference book for students engaged in medieval studies at honours or postgraduate level seeking in-depth information on sources for essays and theses. It is useful for teachers and lecturers of medieval history (like me) striving to keep upto-date with the state of the discipline. Many of the essays would also be of interest to intelligent 'general readers' who wish to extend their knowledge of the medieval world."
(St. Mark's Review, August 2016 issue) "Nonetheless, this Companion is an excellent manual for those who have never (or only partially) studied medieval history, as it provides clear outlines of extremely complex issues, a thought-provoking insight into historiographical and methodological trends, as well as an extremely rich bibliography to assist further investigation."
(English Historical Review, January 2013 issue) "A Companion to the Medieval World will be of great value for instructors who want to pull their own thoughts together and to have a model for a concise explication of complicated topics. It will also bring home to students and general readers that there is no "party line" on the medieval world and that the past, as an intellectual and cultural construct, is very much alive."
(The Medieval Review)