Property and Power in the Early Middle Ages

Cambridge University Press, 11/23/1995
EAN 9780521434195, ISBN10: 052143419X

Hardcover, 340 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
Language: English

This is a collection of original essays on the relationship between property and power, a fundamental theme in medieval history. It addresses four main issues: the meaning of power over property; the ways in which property conveyed power; the nature of immunities; and the power of royal authority to affect property relations. The areas studied include Wales, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Byzantium, and the essays range across the period 650–1150. A substantial introduction is included, which explains the nature of the issues, and a conclusion expresses the team's overall view of the subject. Aimed at a wide readership of both scholars and students, the volume also includes a glossary to help readers who may be unfamiliar with the material or the period.

List of maps
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The ideology of sharing
apostolic community and ecclesiastical property in the early middle ages David Ganz
2. Teutsind, Witlaic and the history of Merovingian precaria Ian Wood
3. Eternal light and earthly needs
practical aspects of the development of Frankish immunities Paul Fouracre
4. The wary widow Janet Nelson
5. Lordship and justice in the early English kingdom
Oswaldslow revisited Patrick Wormald
6. Adding insult to injury
power, property, and immunities in early medieval Wales Wendy Davies
7. Property transactions and social relations between rulers, bishops and nobles in early eleventh-century Saxony
the evidence of the Vita Meinwerci Timothy Reuter
8. Monastic exemptions in tenth- and eleventh-century Byzantium Rosemary Morris
9. Property ownership and signorial power in twelfth-century Tuscany Chris Wickham
10. Conclusion
property and power in early medieval Europe
Glossary.