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Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Preface -- Table of Contents -- Illusrations -- I. The Roman Empire -- II. The Church in the Roman Empire -- III. The Barbarian World -- IV. The Founding of the German Kingdoms -- V. The Byzantine Empire (330-802) -- VI. Mohammed and Islam -- VII. Lombard, Papal and Byzantine Italy -- VIII. Monasticism -- IX. Charlemagne and the Frank Empire -- X. The Expansion and Conquests of the Norse Peoples -- XI. Capetian France (912-1270) -- XII. Germany and Italy (887-1056) -- XIII. The Papacy and the War of Investiture -- XIV. The Eastern Roman Empire (802-1096) -- XV. The Crusades (1095-1291) -- XVI. Germany and Italy (1125-1282) -- XVII. England from the Conquest to 1272 -- XVIII. The Church and the Papal Monarchy -- XIX. Feudalism and Feudal Society -- XX. The Peasantry and the Manor -- XXI. The Medieval Town -- XXII. Medieval Education and Philosophy -- XXIII. Medieval Science and Literature -- XXIV. Medieval Art -- XXV. The Conflict of Philip IV and Boniface VIII -- XXVI. The Great Schism and Reforming Councils -- XXVII. England (1272-1485) -- XXVIII. The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) -- XXIX. Germany and Eastern Europe to 1500 -- XXX. The Renaissance -- XXXI. The End of the Middle Ages -- Genealogical Tables -- Chronological Table -- Index.

Part I. Slow transition from classical to medieval world -- The transformation of classical civilization: the political and economic story through the fifth century CE -- The transformation of classical civilization: religion and culture through the fifth century CE -- Warriors, farmers, and saints in the barbarian kingdoms (200-600) -- Byzantine empire: a struggle for unity and regaining past glory (451-630) -- Islam: the religion, politics, and culture (570-1000) -- Part II. Central Middle Ages -- Technology, society, and politics in early medieval west (600-750) -- The age of Charlemagne (750-814) -- Europe: disunited, assaulted, and saved (814-1024) -- New devotion, growth of towns, and commerce (950-1100) -- Part III. High Middle Ages -- The era of the first crusade (1071-1097) -- The renaissance of the twelfth century -- The flowering of the Middle Ages (ca. 1150-1300) -- Part IV. The transition from the medieval to modern periods -- Falcons, swords, occam's razor, and germs: from bouvines to the black death (1214-1347) -- Conformity, creativity, and authority (1350-1500) -- The medieval twilight in Europe and western Asia: decay and discovery -- Epilogue

Byzantium and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. Codex Justinianus: children of the unfree ; Novella 146: On Jews ; Excerpt from the Visigothic Code ; The Farmer's Law, from Byzantium ; The laws of Alfred, Guthrum, and Edward the Elder ; The laws of King Alfred -- The Catholic Church and its vicissitudes. Four documents from the Investiture controversy ; A truce of God, Decree of the Emperor Henry IV ; The Crusaders in Mainz, May 27, 1096 ; Excerpt from "The capture of Jerusalem" ; Excerpt from Historia Constantinopolitana ; Statute in favor of the princes ; Report from China ; Letter to Gregory XI -- England and France. The Assize of Clarendon ; Letter from Peter of Blois to Queen Eleanor of England ; Excerpt from Dialogue Concerning the Exchequer ; On the rules of love and chivalry ; Magna Carta ; Three summonses to the Parliament of 1295 ; Ordinances of the Merchant Gild of Southampton ; The Battle of Poitiers, from The Chronicles of Froissart ; Excerpts from The Book of the City of Ladies ; Excerpt from The Treasure of the City of Ladies ; Letter to the King of England from Joan of Arc ; Excerpt from the trial of Joan of Arc -- The Near East and beyond. The Pact of Umar: Peace Accord to the Christians of Syria ; Ibn Battuta makes the pilgrimage to Mecca and travels to Baghdad ; Ibn Battuta's travels in Cairo, Damascus, and Jerusalem ; Ibn Battuta's travels to Mali -- Philosophy, religion, and science. On fate and providence, from The Consolation of Philosophy ; Excerpt from St. Anslem's Proslogium, or Discourse on the Existence of God ; "In behalf of the fool": a response to St. Anselm ; Prologue to Sic et Non ; "Of the perils of his abbey," from Abelard's Historia Calamitatum ; Testament of St. Francis ; On the principles of nature ; Excerpt from Summa Theologica ; "On experimental science" ; Excerpt from The Love of Books.

Authority, intercession, and penance -- Roman aristocratic traditions, imperial penal law, and sanctuary -- Reassessing early medieval sanctuary legislation -- The transmission and reception of sanctuary legislation in the early middle ages -- Sanctuary, blood feud, and the strength of Anglo-Saxon government -- Sanctuary in the century after the Norman conquest -- Sanctuary and Angevin law reforms -- The role of canon law in the destruction of sanctuary

Beginning with the merger of Roman, Christian, and Germanic cultures, this history of the Middle Ages covers a vast array of subjects including Byzantium and the Islamic world, feudalism, Church reform, architecture, the Crusades, courtly love, the Magna Carta, and the Hundred Years' War. Author Barbara A. Hanawalt uses a lively and anecdotal writing style to bring history alive for young readers. She delves into the telling details that young adults find fascinating such as the different kinds of armor and weapons used by knights on horseback and the terrifying spread of the Black Death through Europe in the 14th century. Lavishly illustrated with art, photographs, documents, artifacts, and maps, The Middle Ages also includes an index and suggestions for further reading.

Although the topic of humour has been dealt with for other eras, early medieval humour remains largely neglected. These essays go some way towards filling the gap, examining how early medieval writers deliberately employed humour to make their cases. The essays range from the late Roman empire through to the tenth century, and from Byzantium to Anglo-Saxon England. The subject matter is diverse, but a number of themes link them together, notably the use of irony, ridicule and satire as political tools. Two chapters serve as an extended introduction to the topic, while the following six chapters offer varied treatments of humour and politics, looking at different times and places, but at the Carolingian world in particular. Together, they raise important and original issues about how humour was employed to articulate concepts of political power, perceptions of kingship, social relations and the role of particular texts