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MedievalEuropeOnline
the web home of Medieval Europe: A
Short History
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Chapter 6: Economic Takeoff and Social Change, c. 1000-1300
ONLINE RESOURCES:
Medieval Castles and here and here
Wharram Percy (excavations of a medieval village)
De Re Militari: Medieval Military History
TEST YOURSELF: Have you read Chapter 6 adequately? Test yourself here.
MAPS: Want to download a map from chapter 6? Click here.
TIMELINES: Want to download a timeline from chapter 6? Click here.
CITATIONS: Want to find the source of a quote used in chapter 6? Click here.
HISTORICAL STUDIES:
Robert Bartlett, The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950–1350 (1993). A path-breaking analysis of territorial expansion and the evolution of medieval civilization.
Guy Bois, The Transformation of the Year One Thousand: The
Village of Lournand from Antiquity to Feudalism (1992).
Translated from the French, this study argues for a rapid
transformation of the European economy and society.
Constance Brittain Bouchard, Strong of Body, Brave and Noble:
Chivalry and Society in Medieval France (1998). An outstanding
new synthesis. See also Theodore Evergates, ed., Aristocratic
Women in Medieval France (1999) and The Aristocracy of
the County of Champagne (2008); C. Stephen Jaeger, The
Origins of Courtliness: Civilizing Trends and the Formation of
Courtly Ideals (1985); and Richard W. Kaeuper, Chivalry
and Violence in Medieval Europe (1999).
Robert Chazan, Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe
(2010). A valuable summation of both history and historiography. See
also Mark R. Cohen's award-winning Under Crescent and Cross: The
Jews in the Middle Ages (1994), and Kenneth R. Stow, Alienated
Minority: The Jews of Medieval Latin Europe (1992).
Marcia L. Colish, Medieval Foundations of the Western
Intellectual Tradition, 400–1400 (1997). An extraordinarily
skilled synthesis.
Philippe Contamine, War in the Middle Ages (1984). A political, institutional, and intellectual history that covers especially the period 900–1500.
Theodore Evergates, The Aristocracy in the County of Champange,
1100-1300 (2007). See also Amy Livingstone, Out of Love of
my Kin: Aristocratic FAmily Life in the Lands of the Loire,
1000-1200 (2010). Both challenge the standard "Duby"
interpretation.
Robert Fossier, ed., The Cambridge Illustrated History of the
Middle Ages, vol. 2: 950–1250, trans. Janet Sondheimer (1989).
See also volumes 4 and 5 of David Abulafia et al., eds., The New
Cambridge Medieval History. For textbooks, see especially:
Christopher Brooke, Europe in the Central Middle Ages, 962–1154 (3rd
edition, 2000); John H. Mundy, Europe in the High Middle Ages,
1150–1309 (3rd edition, 2000); and Malcolm Barber, The
Two Cities: Medieval Europe, 1050–1320 (1992).
Hans-Werner Goetz, Life in the Middle Ages: From the Seventh to
the Thirteenth Century (1993). A very readable study of
medieval life, from peasants to nobles.
Jacques Le Goff, ed., Medieval Callings (1990). Translated
from a French edition of 1987, this collection considers medieval
people in various walks of life.
Penny Schine Gold, The Lady and the Virgin: Image, Attitude, and
Experience in Twelfth-Century France (1985). An interesting
synthesis of literary, artistic, and historical evidence.
R. I. Moore, The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Power and
Deviance in Western Europe, 950–1250 (1987, revised edition in
2007). A somber reappraisal of the Central Middle Ages. See also his The
First European Revolution, ca. 970–1215 (2000).
Alexander Murray, Reason and Society in the Middle Ages (1978). Argues for a shift in mental outlook that brought into power men skilled at reasoning and accounting.
David Nicholas, The Growth of the Medieval City: from Late
Antiquity to the Early Fourteenth Century (1997). See also
Edward Miller and John Hatcher, Medieval England: Towns, Commerce
and Crafts, 1086–1348 (1995).
N. J. G. Pounds, An Economic History of Medieval Europe (2nd
edition, 1991). Still an excellent account, written for students.
Susan Reynolds, Kingdoms and Communities in Western Europe,
900–1300 (2nd edition, 1997). A perceptive work stressing the
horizontal bonds of lay society.
Werner Rösener, Peasants in the Middle Ages (1992). An excellent account, translated from German. See also Leopold Genicot, Rural Communities in the Medieval World (1990); Edward Miller and John Hatcher, Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change, 1086–1348 (1978); and Robert Fossier, Peasant Life in the Medieval West (1988).
PRIMARY SOURCES IN PRINT:
Georges Duby, Rural Economy and Country Life in the Medieval
West (1968, reprinted 1998). Translated from French, this is
an excellent introduction to the medieval rural life; it also contains
more than 200 pages of primary sources.
Maryanne Kowaleski, ed., Medieval Towns and Town Life: A Reader
(2005). A new collection that treats social as well as economic
history.
Robert S. Lopez and Irving W. Raymond, Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents (2001). A classic, now available with an updated bibliography.
These listings are works-in-progress. They are highly selective and aimed at the practical needs of students and teachers. If you have suggestions, please send them to Judith Bennett.