Suchergebnisse

A review essay covering a book by Andrew Cole, The Birth of Theory (2014).

AbstractChris Wickham's important intervention in debates about the transformation of the Roman world from the fifth century onwards presents a vast array of evidence about the nature of social relations, the economy and the late-Roman and early-medieval state across the Mediterranean and Western-European world. Wickham is successful in taking into account both the high level of regional variation and differentiation across the Roman world and, at the same time, the various key unifying elements which bound these regions together. But, in arguing that the nature of the fiscal apparatus and structures of extraction, redistribution and consumption of surpluses of the late-Roman state were formative in the structure and appearance of the late-Roman élites in East and West as well as in the evolution of their early-medieval successors, a number of structural tensions in the model become apparent. This discussion highlights some of the issues at stake, while, at the same time, affirming the critical importance of the book, more especially its emphasis on the structural force of late-Roman institutions and social relations for the successor-states of the early-medieval West.

Reading in the Middle Ages. Literal reading ; Figurative reading -- Women and reading in the Middle Ages. Categories of women readers ; Women's engagement with literature

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction: Investigating the Medieval Family -- Section I: Defining the Family in the Middle Ages -- 1. The Late Roman Family and Transition to the Middle Ages -- 2. The Family in the Medieval West -- 3. The Family in the Byzantine East -- 4. The Family in the Islamic World -- 5. The Jewish Family in the Middle Ages -- Section II: The Environment of the Family in the Middle Ages -- 6. The Physical Environment of the Medieval Family -- 7. Grooms and Brides, Husbands and Wives, Fathers and Mothers -- 8. Children and the Family -- 9. Religion and the Family -- 10. Families, Labor, and the Laboring Family -- 11. The Family as Rhetorical Device: Traditional, Transitional, and Non-traditional Families -- Glossary -- Bibliography and Recommended Further Reading -- Index.

The experiences of women in the Middle Ages have been receiving growing amounts of attention, and we are only now beginning to appreciate the full extent of their contributions. Women significantly shaped medieval political, economic, and cultural life as rulers, religious leaders, wives, patrons, teachers, healers, merchants, warriors, and agricultural laborers. They also produced enduring works in historiography, literature, music, and the visual arts. Comprehensive in scope, meticulous in scholarship, and accessible in style to general readers and specialists alike, this encyclopedia offers full coverage of the myriad roles, experiences, and contributions of women in the medieval world

During the Middle Ages in Europe, some sexual and gendered behaviors were labeled "sodomitical" or evoked the use of ambiguous phrases such as the "unmentionable vice" or the "sin against nature." How, though, did these categories enter the field of vision? How do you know a sodomite when you see one? In Seeing Sodomy in the Middle Ages, Robert Mills explores the relationship between sodomy and motifs of vision and visibility in medieval culture, on the one hand, and those categories we today call gender and sexuality, on the other. Challenging the view that ideas about sexual and gender dissidence were too confused to congeal into a coherent form in the Middle Ages, Mills demonstrates that sodomy had a rich, multimedia presence in the period--and that a flexible approach to questions of terminology sheds new light on the many forms this presence took. Among the topics that Mills covers are depictions of the practices of sodomites in illuminated Bibles; motifs of gender transformation and sex change as envisioned by medieval artists and commentators on Ovid; sexual relations in religious houses and other enclosed spaces; and the applicability of modern categories such as "transgender," "butch" and "femme," or "sexual orientation" to medieval culture. Taking in a multitude of images, texts, and methodologies, this book will be of interest to all scholars, regardless of discipline, who engage with gender and sexuality in their work.

Dangerous and difficult for both mother and child--what was the birth experience like in the Middle Ages? Dependent, in part, on social class, what pastimes did children enjoy? What games did they play? With often uncomfortable and even harsh living conditions, what kind of care did children receive in the home on a daily basis? These are just a few of the questions this work addresses about the day-to-day childhood experiences during the Middle Ages. Focusing on all social classes of children, the topics are wide-ranging. Chapters cover birth and baptism; early childhood; playing; clothing; c

The study of the Middle Ages in every aspect of the modern liberal arts--the humanities, STEM, and the social sciences--has significant importance for society and the individual. There is a common belief that the peoples of the past were somehow exempt from (positive, especially) human nature, had less of a sense of morality (by any definition) than we do now, or were unaware of basic human dilemmas or triumphs. Relegating the Middle Ages to "primitive" distances us from close examination of what has not changed in society--or what has, which might not be for the better. Exploring and exploding these (mis)conceptions is essential to experience the benefits of a liberal education.

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.

The extraordinary array of images included in this volume reveals the full and rich history of the Middle Ages. Exploring material objects from the European, Byzantine and Islamic worlds, the book casts a new light on the cultures that formed them, each culture illuminated by its treasures. The objects are divided among four topics: The Holy and the Faithful; The Sinful and the Spectral; Daily Life and Its Fictions, and Death and Its Aftermath. Each section is organized chronologically, and every object is accompanied by a penetrating essay that focuses on its visual and cultural significance within the wider context in which the object was made and used. Spot maps add yet another way to visualize and consider the significance of the objects and the history that they reveal. Lavishly illustrated, this is an appealing and original guide to the cultural history of the Middle Ages