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A study of the reign of the German king and emperor Henry IV (1056-1106).
Bruno, a cleric who served the archbishop of Magdeburg and subsequently the bishop of Merseburg during the course of the 1060s to the 1080s, composed one of the most important historical works treating the tumultuous period in the history of the German kingdom in the second half of the eleventh century. Bruno’s main focus in his Saxon War is the civil wars that engulfed the German kingdom from the mid 1060s through the end of the 1080s. However, as a historian of contemporary affairs, Bruno also offers crucial insights regarding the so-called Investiture Controversy, which Bruno treats largely as a political conflict between a tyrannical German ruler and the Saxons with some papal interven...
Highlights "the range and richness of scholarship on medieval warfare, military institutions, and cultures of conflict that characterize the field". History 95 (2010)
This richly illustrated book explores over seven hundred years of European warfare, from the time of Charlemagne to the end of the middle ages (c.1500). The period covered has a distinctive character in military history. It was an age when organization for war was integral to social structure, when the secular aristocrat was by necessity also a warrior, and whose culture was profoundly influenced by martial ideas. Twelve scholars, experts in their own fields, have contributed to this finely illustrated book. It is divided into two parts. Part I seeks to explore the experience of war viewed chronologically with separate chapters on, for instance, the Viking age, on the wars and expansion of t...
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This book is a detailed study of Hugh of Flavigny and his chronicle, which is widely recognised as one of the most important narratives of a crucial period of European history, that is, the Investiture Contest. Hugh's Chronicon is significant in a number of ways: as a unique source-book for some of the most important primary documents (especially papal letters) generated by the Investiture Contest; as a rare autograph manuscript which gives an important insight into contemporary modes of composition and compilation; as an important history of the 'local' effects of the Investiture Contest in the dioceses of Verdun and Autun; and as a striking autobiography of the author, Hugh of Flavigny. All these aspects are covered in this study by Patrick Healy. Other chapters investigate the context of the work in terms of ecclesiastical politics and use an analysis of the political and theological sources to illustrate the intellectual make-up of a contemporary monk, publicist - and polemicist.
Provocative interrogation of how the Ottonian kingdom grew and flourished, focussing on the resources required. The Ottonians were the most powerful monarchs in Europe during the tenth and early eleventh century, exercising hegemony in West Francia, Burgundy, and much of Italy in addition to ruling the German realm. Despite their enormous political and military success, however, the foundations of Ottonian royal power remain highly contested and largely misunderstood, with previous scholarship tending to have considered it as depending upon the ability of the king to shape and harness the power of the nobles. This study challenges the dominant historiographical paradigm, rebutting the notion...
This 2007 text is a comparative, analysis of one of the most fundamental stages in the formation of Europe. Leading scholars explore the role of the spread of Christianity and the formation of new principalities in the birth of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Rus' around the year 1000. Drawing on history, archaeology and art history, and emphasizing problems related to the sources and historiographical debates, they demonstrate the complex interdependence between the processes of religious and political change, covering conditions prior to the introduction of Christianity, the adoption of Christianity, and the development of the rulers' power. Regional patterns emerge, highlighting both the similarities in ruler-sponsored cases of Christianization, and differences in the consolidation of power and in institutions introduced by Christianity. The essays reveal how local societies adopted Christianity; medieval ideas of what constituted the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians; and the connections between Christianity and power.