Charles West

This book explores social cohesion in rural settlements in western Europe from 700–1050, asking to what extent settlements, or districts, constituted units of social organisation. It focuses on the interactions, interconnections and networks of people who lived side by side – neighbours. Drawing evidence from most of the current western European countries, the book plots and interrogates the very different practices of this wide range of regions in a systematically comparative framework. Neighbours and strangers considers the variety of local responses to the supra-local agents of landlords and rulers and the impact, such as it was, of those agents on the small-scale residential group. It also assesses the impact on local societies of the values, instructions and demands of the wider literate world of Christianity, as delivered by local priests.

This book explores social cohesion in rural settlements in western Europe from 700–1050, asking to what extent settlements, or districts, constituted units of social organisation. It focuses on the interactions, interconnections and networks of people who lived side by side – neighbours. Drawing evidence from most of the current western European countries, the book plots and interrogates the very different practices of this wide range of regions in a systematically comparative framework. It considers the variety of local responses to the supra-local agents of landlords and rulers and the impact, such as it was, of those agents on the small-scale residential group. It also assesses the impact on local societies of the values, instructions and demands of the wider literate world of Christianity, as delivered by local priests.

The local priest was the most ubiquitous embodiment of the Church for many people in medieval Christian Europe. By centring this key figure in post-Carolingian Europe, this book provides a fresh perspective on the transition between two focuses of historiographical attention, the Carolingian reform and the Gregorian reform. This pivot away from Church elites such as popes, bishops and abbots, and the institutional structures of dioceses and parishes, sheds light on new lines of continuity and moments of transformation, examining the resources and kinship ties of local priests and assessing their relationship with the bishop at both the collective and the individual level. It draws on a variety of methodologies and forms of evidence, ranging from the detailed study of specific manuscripts to wide-ranging overviews of liturgical and documentary evidence. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Eleventh-century Europe was diverse and fast-changing. Historians have often debated this change through two sets of competing arguments, one about the shifting role of the Church and the Papacy, and the other about the rise of castellan lords and a proliferation in violence. Yet these arguments about 'Church Reform' and 'Feudal Revolution' only really apply to one part of Europe, the Latin West. This book takes its cue from contemporary perceptions of Europe, and includes Byzantium (or East Rome) and Muslim al-Andalus in scope. In doing so, it presents a new perspective on Europe in the period. Its chapters assess different scales of action and interaction within this wide space. They take from the reader from the peasants living in small village settlements, via the great city of Constantinople, the taifa emirates, kingdoms from Ireland to Hungary, and the two universal empires, up to contemporary ideas, cosmologies, and representations of the wider world. Viewed in this broad setting, the Latin West's remarkable expansion during this period, dramatically illustrated by the First Crusade at the century's end, can best be understood as the poorly controlled overspilling of internal dynamics, as the established public order was disrupted. Elsewhere in Europe, existing structures proved more resilient and better able to accommodate internal economic and social development, though remaining vulnerable to aggression from outside.

The Fall of a Carolingian Kingdom investigates how the first royal divorce scandal led to the collapse of a kingdom, changing the fate of medieval Europe. Through a set of annotated translations of key contemporary sources, the book presents the downfall of the Frankish kingdom of Lotharingia as a case study in early medieval politics, equipping readers to develop their own independent interpretations. The book tracks the twists and turns of the scandal as it unfolded over a crucial decade and a half in the ninth century. Drawing on primary sources such as letters, material culture, and secret treaties, The Fall of a Carolingian Kingdom offers readers a sharply defined window into one of the most dramatic episodes in Carolingian history, rich with insights on the workings of early medieval society.

The Fall of a Carolingian Kingdom investigates how the first royal divorce scandal led to the collapse of a kingdom, changing the fate of medieval Europe. Through a set of annotated translations of key contemporary sources, the book presents the downfall of the Frankish kingdom of Lotharingia as a case study in early medieval politics, equipping readers to develop their own independent interpretations. The book tracks the twists and turns of the scandal as it unfolded over a crucial decade and a half in the ninth century. Drawing on primary sources such as letters, material culture, and secret treaties, The Fall of a Carolingian Kingdom offers readers a sharply defined window into one of the most dramatic episodes in Carolingian history, rich with insights on the workings of early medieval society.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Reprint of the original. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Reprint of the original. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Reprint of the original. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Reprint of the original. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.