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  3. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series

The series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought was inaugurated by G. G. Coulton in 1921; Professor John H. Arnold now acts as General Editor of the Fourth Series, with Dr Christopher Briggs, Dr Helen Gittos, Professor Adam J. Kosto, and Dr Magnus Ryan as Advisory Editors. The series brings together outstanding work by medieval scholars over a wide range of human endeavour extending from political economy to the history of ideas.

  • General Editors: John H. Arnold, University of Cambridge
  • Advisory Editors: Christopher Briggs, University of Cambridge, Helen Gittos, University of Oxford, Adam J. Kosto, Columbia University, New York, Magnus Ryan, University of Cambridge

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111 results in Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series

Page 4 of 6

Brittany and the Angevins
  • Province and Empire 1158–1203
  • J. A. Everard
  • Published online:
    15 December 2009
    Print publication:
    05 October 2000
  • The rule of the Angevins in Brittany is characterized usually as opening an isolated 'Celtic' society to a wider world and imposing new and alien institutions. This study of Brittany under the Angevins, first published in 2000, demonstrates that the opposite is true: that before the advent of Henry II in 1158, the Bretons were already active participants in Anglo-Norman and French society. Indeed those Bretons with landholdings in England, Normandy and Anjou were already accustomed to Angevin rule. The book examines in detail the means by which Henry II gained sovereignty over Brittany and how it was governed subsequently by the Angevin kings of England from 1158 to 1203. In particular, it examines the extent to which the Angevins ruled Brittany directly, or delegated authority either to native dukes or royal ministers and shows that in this respect the nature of Angevin rule changed and evolved over the period.

Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c.936–1075
  • John W. Bernhardt
  • Published online:
    15 December 2009
    Print publication:
    07 October 1993
  • In examining the relationship between the royal monasteries in tenth- and eleventh-century Germany and the German monarchs, this book assimilates a great deal of European scholarship on a central problem - that of the realities and structures of power. It focuses on the practical aspects of governing without a capital and while constantly in motion, and on the payments and services which monasteries provided to the king and which in turn supported the king's travel economically and politically. Royal-monastic relations are investigated in the context of the 'itinerant kingship' of the period to determine how this relationship functioned in practice. It emerges that German rulers did in fact make much greater use of their royal monasteries than has hitherto been recognised.

Barcelona and its Rulers, 1096–1291
  • Stephen P. Bensch
  • Published online:
    08 December 2009
    Print publication:
    02 February 1995
  • This volume examines the early growth of Barcelona and the formation of its ruling classes. The city did not at first grow because of overseas trade but because of market-oriented agriculture and tribute from Islamic Spain. Only after a difficult adjustment did the city develop the commercial foundations which would later ensure its prosperity. Barcelona's patriciate rose to prominence during the second stage of growth, its rise forming part of a profound restructuring of territorial power in response to the 'feudal crisis' that challenged traditional authority throughout Catalonia. Patrician families did not model themselves after noble patrilineages, but forged marital alliances in which the wife's dowry played a fundamental role. In this new book the family structure of the patriciate receives close examination and many traditional assumptions about the nature of Mediterranean towns are challenged.

Clement V
  • Sophia Menache
  • Published online:
    04 December 2009
    Print publication:
    04 June 1998
  • Clement V, the first 'Avignon' pope, led the Church during nine critical years, 1305–14. Elected two years after the outrage committed upon Boniface VIII at Anagni, Clement saw as his main goal the restoration of harmonious relations with the leading monarchs of Christendom. In achieving his aim, he paved the way for the Church in the modern period. This 1998 book provides a complete analysis of Clement's pontificate from the two complementary viewpoints offered by diplomatic documentation and by narrative sources. Their point of convergence validates a re-evaluation of the Avignon 'Babylonian captivity' of the papacy. As a result, Clement's pontificate no longer appears as a shameful surrender to Capetian interests. Rather, it demonstrates a consistent scale of priorities, among which the recovery of the Holy Land was accorded pre-eminence.

Bishop and Chapter in Twelfth-Century England
  • A Study of the 'Mensa Episcopalis'
  • Everett U. Crosby
  • Published online:
    04 December 2009
    Print publication:
    12 May 1994
  • This book is the first detailed examination on a comparative basis of the economic and political relations between the bishops and their cathedral clergy in England during the century and a half after the Conquest. In particular, it is a study of the structure and historical development of the mensal endowments and the redistribution of wealth which led, in the course of time, to the establishment of the chapter as a largely independent body with substantial political power. A description of the constitutional importance of the mensa and its treatment in recent scholarly writing is followed by a discussion of property rights and liberties in the church and the role of the bishop in ecclesiastical and civil government. The core of the book consists of an analysis based on contemporary sources of the episcopal and capitular organisation in each of the ten monastic and seven secular sees.

Conquest, Anarchy and Lordship
  • Yorkshire, 1066–1154
  • Paul Dalton
  • Published online:
    03 December 2009
    Print publication:
    21 July 1994
  • Focusing on Yorkshire, by far the largest English county, this book, first published in 1994, examines three of the most important themes in the period described by Sir Frank Stenton as 'the first century of English feudalism': the Norman conquest, the anarchy of Stephen's reign, and the nature of lordship and land tenure. In each case the book offers a strong challenge to dominant interpretations which will alter significantly our conception of Anglo-Norman politics and government. The first section of the book reveals that the Norman conquest of Yorkshire was a much more rapid and carefully controlled process than has been supposed; the second section examines the 'anarchy' of King Stephen's reign and its consequences; and the final section deals with lordship, one of the most significant aspects of medieval society. Offering many revisionary arguments throughout, the book will become essential reading on both 'the first century' and 'the legal framework' of English feudalism.

People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489–554
  • Patrick Amory
  • Published online:
    03 December 2009
    Print publication:
    13 June 1997
  • The barbarians of the fifth and sixth centuries were long thought to be races, tribes or ethnic groups who toppled the Roman Empire and racist, nationalist assumptions about the composition of the barbarian groups still permeate much scholarship on the subject. This book proposes a new view, through a case-study of the Goths of Italy between 489 and 554. It contains a detailed examination of the personal details and biographies of 379 individuals and compares their behaviour with ideological texts of the time. This inquiry suggests wholly new ways of understanding the appearance of barbarian groups and the end of the western Roman Empire, as well as proposing new models of regional and professional loyalty and group cohesion. In addition, the book proposes a complete reinterpretation of the evolution of Christian conceptions of community, and of so-called 'Germanic' Arianism.

Autonomy and Community
  • The Royal Manor of Havering, 1200–1500
  • Marjorie Keniston McIntosh
  • Published online:
    02 December 2009
    Print publication:
    30 October 1986
  • This history of the English royal manor of Havering, Essex, illustrates life at one extreme of the spectrum of personal and collective freedom during the later Middle Ages, revealing the kinds of patterns which could emerge when medieval people were placed in a setting of unusual independence. As residents of a manor held by the crown, they profited from royal administrative neglect. As tenants of the ancient royal demesne, they had special legal rights and economic privileges. Havering's dominant families controlled the legal and administrative life of their community through the powerful manor court. The tenants combined effectively to prevent outside interference in their affairs, despite the individualistic self-interest manifest in their economic dealings. In 1465 the tenants obtained a royal charter which established Havering as a formal Liberty, with its own justices of the peace. By the end of the fifteenth century Havering displayed many characteristics commonly associated with the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.

Caesarius of Arles
  • The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul
  • William E. Klingshirn
  • Published online:
    02 December 2009
    Print publication:
    18 November 1993
  • This book studies the processes by which the pagan Roman empire was transformed into the Christian middle ages. Drawing on the perspectives of social history, archaeology and anthropology, it focuses on the strategies of Bishop Caesarius of Arles (AD 470–542) to promote Christian values, practices and beliefs among the pagans, Jews and Christians of southern France, and on the resistance provoked by his efforts among the population. This is the first book in English about Caesarius, and the only book to discuss southern Gaul during the sixth century. It examines afresh the crucial years of continuity, disruption, and profound change which followed the end of the Roman empire in the west, and the effects of Caesarius' programme under the later Merovingians and Carolingians.

The Monastic Order in Yorkshire, 1069–1215
  • Janet Burton
  • Published online:
    23 November 2009
    Print publication:
    28 March 1999
  • This 1999 book explores the dramatic growth of the monastic order in Yorkshire from the foundation of the first post-Conquest abbey at Selby in 1069 to 1215. The first half examines the dynamics of monastic expansion, discussing the influences on both its chronological development and its geographical pattern. It demonstrates that the monastic expansion owed much to the particular political and tenurial conditions which existed in the century after 1069: the establishment of Norman political ascendancy, the extension of central government under Henry I, and the civil war of the reign of King Stephen. The second part of the book explores recruitment, patronage, economy and cultural life. Particular attention is paid to the role of women in the religious life. Nunneries, so often regarded as second-class or failed monasteries, are here shown to have had a distinctive function in society, in terms both of recruitment and of interaction with the local community.

The Aristocracy in Twelfth-Century León and Castile
  • Simon Barton
  • Published online:
    17 November 2009
    Print publication:
    14 August 1997
  • This volume examines the nature of aristocratic society in the Spanish kingdom of León and Castile in the twelfth century. Drawing on an extensive range of original sources, many of them unpublished, it highlights the unrivalled wealth, status and power enjoyed by some members of the aristocracy. It also explores the multifarious roles that lay magnates were expected to fulfil: as family protectors, landlords and judges; as courtiers, diplomats and military commanders; and, not least, as patrons of the church. The nobility of León and Castile experienced a number of important changes during this period. There are signs that a few great families began to develop an embryonic sense of lineage. The struggle for ascendancy with al-Andalus - Muslim Spain - also enabled some magnates to acquire influence far from their traditional centres of power, and the concept of crusade made itself felt in aristocratic circles. The book's Appendices include a unique biographical study of the counts of León and Castile and a selection of genealogical tables.

Land and Power in Late Medieval Ferrara
  • The Rule of the Este, 1350-1450
  • Trevor Dean
  • Published online:
    10 November 2009
    Print publication:
    19 November 1987
  • Among the many states of late medieval Italy, one stands out for its unfamiliarity to an English audience and for its neglect in historical research: that of the Este family, lords (later Dukes) of the cities of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio in northern Italy. This book is the first modern attempt to provide a detailed analysis of the political structure of this state based on archive sources. Much of the book is concerned with the ways by which the Este used their vast landed resources in and around Ferrara to build up and reinforce their personal political authority both within and outside their dominions. Among the major themes examined are the continuing presence of political feudalism in the relations between the Este and their supporters, the place of the court in Ferrarese noble society, and the violent imposition of Este authority over the powerful nobles of the Apennine hills.

The Early Humiliati
  • Frances Andrews
  • Published online:
    02 November 2009
    Print publication:
    27 January 2000
  • This book is the first major study in English of a group of late twelfth-century religious enthusiasts, the early Humiliati, who were condemned by the Church as heretics in 1184. However, in a remarkable transition, they were reconciled seventeen years later and went on to establish a highly successful religious order in north Italy. The Humiliati have been accorded little attention in previous studies both because of their local nature and because of the suppression of the Order in 1571, after one of their number made a disastrous attempt to murder Charles Borromeo. Using a combination of a wide range of sources, the nature of the early movement and its processes of institutional development are reconstructed. The book also includes a Bullarium Humiliatorum, a calendar of papal and episcopal letters and privileges, which will be of great use to scholars in the field.

Family, Commerce, and Religion in London and Cologne
  • Anglo-German Emigrants, c.1000–c.1300
  • Joseph P. Huffman
  • Published online:
    02 November 2009
    Print publication:
    05 November 1998
  • This book explores the full range of social, economic, religious and cultural contacts between England and the German city of Cologne during the central Middle Ages, c.1000 to c.1300. A wealth of original archive material reveals an extensive network of English and German emigrants who were surprisingly successful in achieving assimilation into their new homeland. From beguines to English sterling, pilgrims to emigrants, crusaders and merchants to teachers, there existed a complex world of Anglo-German associations. The book therefore maintains the thesis that the Anglo-German nexus should be given a higher profile in current historiography on the Middle Ages, and that the book should stand as a contribution towards the reconfiguration of medieval history away from the boundaries created by modern political and intellectual categories. It will also encourage historians to reconsider their basic assumptions about what constituted 'medieval Europe'.

Preaching the Crusades
  • Mendicant Friars and the Cross in the Thirteenth Century
  • Christoph T. Maier
  • Published online:
    31 October 2009
    Print publication:
    26 August 1994
  • This study describes the way in which the Franciscan and Dominican orders became involved in preaching the cross and examines their contribution to the crusading movement of the thirteenth century. The papacy used large numbers of trained preachers from these orders in order to provide the crusades with a well-organised and efficient propaganda back-up throughout Europe unknown before the thirteenth century. The book explains how the propaganda campaigns were organised and how the recruitment of crusaders took place. It also challenges the traditional pacifist view of the founder saints of the two orders by showing them to be supporters of the crusades themselves.

The Political Thought of Baldus de Ubaldis
  • Joseph Canning
  • Published online:
    29 October 2009
    Print publication:
    26 February 1987
  • This is a full-scale study of the political thought of the Italian jurist, Baldus de Ubaldis (1327–1400). Baldus shared with his teacher and colleague, Bartolus of Sassoferrato, the greatest fame and influence amongst the Commentators, the school of jurists which dominated Roman law studies in the late Middle Ages and remained highly influential throughout the sixteenth century and beyond. Baldus was also a canonist of renown. Although Baldus was certainly the juristic peer of Bartolus, he has previously attracted far less attention from modern scholars. This book is particularly concerned with Baldus' treatment of universal and territorial sovereignty; his contribution to the development of the idea of the state; his theory of the sovereignty of independent city-republics; his ideas of citizenship; and his discussion of kingship and signorie. Baldus was, in short, a major contributor to the juristic mainstream in European political thought in the late medieval and Renaissance periods.

Charity and Community in Medieval Cambridge
  • Miri Rubin
  • Published online:
    28 October 2009
    Print publication:
    29 January 1987
  • This study develops our understanding of medieval society through an examination of its charitable activities. In a detailed study of the forms in which relief was organised in medieval Cambridge and Cambridgeshire, the book unravels the economic and demographic factors which created the need for relief as well as the forms in which the community offered it. With continual reference to the religious teachings of priests and friars and the changing ideas of lay piety, Dr Rubin relates the changing forms of charitable giving to the shift in attitudes towards community and social order, towards relations between laity and clergy, and towards the poor. A local study is thus set in a wide comparative context, drawing together contributions in the fields of social, religious, economic and urban history.

A Gentry Community
  • Leicestershire in the Fifteenth Century, c.1422–c.1485
  • Eric Acheson
  • Published online:
    27 October 2009
    Print publication:
    25 June 1992
  • This book examines the fifteenth-century gentry of Leicestershire under five broad headings: as landholders, as members of a social community based on the county, as participants in and leaders of the government of the shire, as members of the wider family unit and, finally, as individuals. Economically assertive, they were also socially cohesive, this cohesion being provided by the shire community. The shire also provided the most important political unit, controlled by an oligarchy of superior gentry families who were relatively independent of outside interference. The basic social unit was the nuclear family, but external influences, provided by concern for the wider kin, the lineage or economic and political advancement, were not major determinants of family strategy. Individualism among the gentry was already established by the fifteenth century, revealing its personnel as a self-assured and confident stratum in late medieval English society.

Province and Empire
  • Brittany and the Carolingians
  • Julia M. H. Smith
  • Published online:
    26 October 2009
    Print publication:
    31 January 1992
  • This book offers ideas about the processes of political and cultural change in the early Middle Ages. The main focus is on relations between the centre and periphery of the Carolingian empire, in particular on the development of Brittany as a territorial principality in the ninth and tenth centuries. A major theme is the interaction of Carolingian imperial policies, Frankish aristocratic feuding, and local Breton communities. Other issues discussed include economy and society in Brittany and Neustria, the impact of Carolingian imperialism on local Breton communities, changes in the political, ecclesiastical and social structures arising from Carolingian overlordship of Brittany, the interaction of Celtic and Carolingian culture, and the construction of an early medieval ethnic identity. The book shows how regional autonomy and self-regulating villages were as integral to the Carolingian world as court politics, cultural imperialism and frontier strife, and it argues that, in order to understand both the establishment and the collapse of the Carolingian empire, politics at the periphery demand as much attention as politics at the centre.

England's Jewish Solution
  • Experiment and Expulsion, 1262–1290
  • Robin R. Mundill
  • Published online:
    16 October 2009
    Print publication:
    13 September 1998
  • This is a detailed study of Jewish settlement and of seven different Jewish communities in England between 1262 and 1290, offering in addition a new consideration of the prelude to the expulsion of the Jews in 1290. The book estimates the extent of Jewish residence and settlement; evaluates the tallage payments made by those communities; and finally by a close discussion of prevailing attitudes towards usury and moneylending considers the Edwardian experiment of 1275. The impact of Edward I's legislation and Jewish policy on his Jewish subjects is then examined. It is possible to follow the business transactions of Jewish financiers in these different provincial communities over almost thirty years; and a thorough and detailed study is made of the type of people who borrowed from the Jews. Finally a survey is made of the possible motives and continental parallels which influenced the expulsion in 1290 and the subsequent dissolution.

Page 4 of 6