Drawing on the expertise of 26 distinguished scholars, this important volume covers the major issues in the study of medieval Europe, highlighting the significant impact the time period had on cultural forms and institutions central to European identity. Examines changing approaches to the study of medieval Europe, its periodization, and central themes Includes coverage of important questions such as identity and the self, sexuality and gender, emotionality and ethnicity, as well as more traditional topics such as economic and demographic expansion; kingship; and the rise of the West Explores Europe s understanding of the wider world to place the study of the medieval society in a global context

Drawing on the expertise of 26 distinguished scholars, thisimportant volume covers the major issues in the study of medievalEurope, highlighting the significant impact the time period had oncultural forms and institutions central to European identity.* Examines changing approaches to the study of medieval Europeits periodization, and central themes* Includes coverage of important questions such as identity andthe self, sexuality and gender, emotionality and ethnicity, as wellas more traditional topics such as economic and demographicexpansion; kingship; and the rise of the West* Explores Europe's understanding of the wider world toplace the study of the medieval society in a global context

Notes on Contributors viiiPART I THE MIDDLE AGES 11 The Idea of a Middle Ages 3Edward D. English and Carol LansingPART II EARLY MEDIEVAL FOUNDATIONS 72 Economies and Societies in Early Medieval Western Europe 9Matthew Innes3 Politics and Power 36Hans Hummer4 Religious Culture and the Power of Tradition in the Early Medieval West 67Yitzhak HenPART III POPULATIONS AND THE ECONOMY 875 Economic Takeoff and the Rise of Markets 89James Paul Masschaele6 Rural Families in Medieval Europe 111Phillipp R. Schofield7 Marriage in Medieval Latin Christendom 130Martha Howell8 Gender and Sexuality 161John Arnold9 Society, Elite Families, and Politics in Late Medieval Italian Cities 185Edward D. EnglishPART IV RELIGIOUS CULTURE 20910 New Religious Movements and Reform 211Maureen C. Miller11 Monastic and Mendicant Communities 231Constance H. Berman12 Hospitals in the Middle Ages 257James W. Brodman13 Popular Belief and Heresy 276Carol Lansing14 Jews in the Middle Ages 293Kenneth R. Stow15 Muslims in Medieval Europe 313Olivia Remie ConstablePART V POLITICS AND POWER 33316 Conflict Resolution and Legal Systems 335Thomas Kuehn17 Medieval Rulers and Political Ideology 354Robert W. Dyson18 Papal Monarchy 372Andreas Meyer19 Urban Historical Geography and the Writing of Late Medieval Urban History 397Teofilo F. Ruiz20 Bureaucracy and Literacy 413Richard Britnell21 The Practice of War 435Clifford J. Rogers22 Expansion and the Crusades 455Christopher TyermanPART VI TECHNOLOGIES AND CULTURE 47523 Romanesque and Gothic Church Architecture 477Stephen Murray24 Aristocratic Culture: Kinship, Chivalry, and Court Culture 500Richard E. Barton25 Philosophy and Humanism 525Stephen Gersh26 Philosophy and Theology in the Universities 544Philipp W. RosemannPART VII THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES 56127 Medieval Europe in World History 563R. I. MooreIndex 581