Bøger i Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series serien

Merchants were the most important political and commercial group in medieval towns. This book adopts a holistic approach by integrating a very wide range of evidence to provide an inclusive picture of merchant society through the lives of over 1400 individuals.

The history of English rule in Ireland stretches back to the twelfth century. This book examines the actions of the earliest English settlers in Ireland, in the eastern coastal area known today as county Louth, and asks a number of questions about the society they developed there.

This is the first full-length study of the elite group which surrounded King John, the household knights. As well as fighting for the king, they organized his armies, were involved in government, undertook diplomatic missions, controlled important castles, and proved themselves generally indispensable for the workings of English medieval government.

Despite the recent renaissance in studies of the reign of Richard III, most historians have remained focussed on conventional themes, especially the character and motivation of the king and the fate of his nephews. Less attention, as a result, has been devoted to the reign's importance in the patterns of late medieval government and in the evolution of royal authority.

From 1250 to 1795 Lithuania covered a vast area of eastern and central Europe. Until 1387 the country was pagan. How this huge state came to expand, defend itself against western European crusaders and play a conspicuous part in European life are the main subjects of this book, first published in 1994.

This book offers an alternative approach to the problem of Slavic ethnicity in south-eastern Europe between c. 500 and c. 700. The author shows how Byzantine authors 'invented' the Slavs, rejects the idea of Slavic migration, and shows that 'the Slavs' were the product of the frontier.

The Avignon pope Clement V led the Church during nine critical years, 1305-14. In contrast to the characterisation of the period as the 'Babylonian captivity' of the papacy, this 1998 book offers an evaluation of Clement's reign, the goals of papal policy, and its evaluation by contemporaries.

This 2004 book provides a detailed study of Normandy's frontiers in the twelfth century and explores how those borders were controlled. This book offers a comprehensive treatment of the subject, discussing ties of land and kinship and the effect of the political border on government, law and the Church.

This book assimilates a great deal of European scholarship on the realities and structures of power. It examines an important aspect of early medieval government, itinerant kingship, and shows how monasteries and convents in tenth- and eleventh-century Germany lent it crucial economic and political support.

Taking Alsace as its focus, this innovative 2006 study offers a unique snapshot of localised and centralised political structures in early medieval Europe. Providing a comprehensive exploration of the regional sources, it tracks the development and eventual demise of a distinctive political culture derived from networks of monasteries and kin-groups.

This book is a major study in the English language on the career of Chrodegang of Metz, one of the foremost churchmen in Francia in the eighth century. It explores the programme of reform he undertook in order to transform his see into a holy city.

Gregory the Great interpreted the Bible with equal emphasis on the practical living of the good Christian life and the aspiration of the soul towards God and the life to come. This study looks at his thought as a whole, and the way he arrived at a balance between the archive and the way he arrived at a balance between the active and the contemplative.

This book is the first major study in English of a group of late twelfth-century religious enthusiasts, the early Humiliati, who were condemned by the Church as heretics in 1184 but - in a remarkable transition - were reconciled seventeen years later and established a highly successful religious order in north Italy.

This book, first published in 2000, shows just how much can be discovered about the so-called 'Dark Ages', offering a detailed analysis of the workings of society at the heart of Charlemagne's empire, and suggesting the need to rethink our understanding of political power in the early Middle Ages.

Examines the role of written agreements in eleventh- and twelfth-century Catalonia, and how they determined the social and political order. However, in addressing feudalism, the 'transformation of the year 1000', medieval literacy, and the nature of Mediterranean societies, it has wide implications for the history of medieval Europe.

This book, first published in 2000, is a political history of Brittany between 1158 and 1203, when it was ruled by the Angevin king of England, Henry II, and his successors. The book examines the process whereby Henry II gained sovereignty over Brittany and how it was governed thereafter.

This study centres on the early archives of the Venerabile Collegio Inglese in Rome. It examines the English community in Rome, in its political, commercial and religious setting, between 1362, when the first English hospice for poor people and pilgrims was founded, and 1420.

This book, covering the close of Stephen's reign (1135-54) and the early phase of Henry II's (1154-89), examines the government of England in the aftermath of civil war. It suggests that the extent of 'anarchy' under Stephen has been exaggerated as 'restoration' gave way to 'reform'.

This 1999 book explores the dramatic growth of the monastic order in Yorkshire from the foundation of the first post-Conquest abbey at Selby in 1069 to 1215.

A brilliant study of proto-scientific thought, arguing that the transformation of the conceptual model of the natural world c.1260-1380 was strongly influenced by rapid monetisation in European society.

Focusing on Yorkshire, this book, first published in 1994, examines three key themes in the period 1066-1154: the Norman conquest, the anarchy of Stephen's reign, and the nature of lordship and land tenure. In each case it offers a strong challenge to dominant interpretations, and new ways of conceptualizing Anglo-Norman politics and government.

This 1995 book explores how political power was exerted and family identity expressed in the context of reconstruction of the noble families of the medieval duchies of Gaeta, Amalfi and Naples. It is of special relevance to European studies of early medieval family and state structures.

This is the first biography of one of the wealthiest and most influential bishops of medieval Europe. It sheds new light on on the role of aliens in English politics, Magna Carta, the loss of Normandy, and the constitutional and administrative developments of the reign of Henry III.

The least-studied state of the late medieval Italy is that of the Este family, lords (later Dukes) of the cities of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. This book is the first modern attempt to provide a detailed analysis of the political structure of this state based on archive sources.

Which of the two sides of Clement prevailed the 'official' or the personal? The book attempts to answer this question by examining both his ideas and his actions in connection with some of the major issues of the reign.

This is a full-scale study of the political thought of the Italian jurist, Baldus de Ubaldis (1327-1400). It examines his treatment of universal and territorial sovereignty; his contribution to the development of the idea of the state; his theory of the sovereignty of independent city-republics; his ideas of citizenship; and his discussion of kingship and signorie.

This is a study of landholding and alliance in England in the years 950 to 1086. It will become the standard work on the often volatile relationship between the king and the great lords in this key transitional period.

This book is a study of the reformation in ecclesiastical politics in twelfth-century England whereby the cathedral chapter, by gradually gaining control of more of its own wealth and resources, increased its power and emerged as a community largely independent of the bishop.

Based on newly reconstructed documentation for the University of Paris, this book is the most detailed study of the social composition of a medieval university at a single point in time ever attempted, exploring both the socio-economic background of medieval university education and the history and topography of medieval Paris.

The barbarians of the fifth and sixth centuries have long been considered the ethnic group responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire. This book challenges this interpretation, through a case-study of the Goths of Italy between 489 and 554.