Table Of ContentFraming the Early Middle Ages
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Framing the Early
Middle Ages
Europe and the Mediterranean
400 800
–
CHRIS WICKHAM
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp
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Acknowledgements
Ihavebeenworkingonthisbookfornearlysevenyears,andhavediscussedissues
relatingtoitwithnearlyeverylateRomanistandearlymedievalistIhavemetduring
thattime;Ihavegainedinsightsfromtoomanypeopletolist.Firstofall,Ishouldlike
tothankthosewhocommentedonsectionsofthebook:LeslieBrubaker,whoread
almost the whole text; Paul Fouracre, John Haldon, Hugh Kennedy, and Eduardo
Manzano, who read sections of Chapter 3; Mayke de Jong, Paul Fouracre, John
Haldon,GuyHalsall,PeterHeather,EduardoManzano,andPeterSarris,whoread
sectionsofChapter4;Jean-PierreDevroeyandDomenicoVera,whoreadsectionsof
Chapter5;StevenBassett,NicholasBrooks,WendyDavies,SimonEsmonde-Cleary,
and Patrick Wormald, who read Chapter 6; Steven Bassett, Matt Innes, and Peter
Sarris, who read sections of Chapter 7; Sonia Gutie´rrez, Helena Hamerow, Simon
Loseby, and Mark Whittow, who read sections of Chapter 8; Domenico Vera and
ChrisDyer,whoreadChapter9;SimonLoseby,whoreadallof,andLisaFentress
andJohnHaldon,whoreadsectionsof,Chapter10;PaulArthur,LisaFentress,Jodi
Magness, Olga Magoula, Eduardo Manzano, Paul Van Ossel, and Bryan Ward-
Perkins, who read some or all of Chapter 11. They were often sharp critics, and
Igainedimmenselyfromtheirinsights,suggestions,andbibliographicalreferences;I
knowtheydonotallagreewithmyconclusions.
Another group of people, partially overlapping, consists of friends with whom I
startedwhenIneededtogetasenseofthebibliographyofagivenregion:peopleI
couldnotdowithoutasguidestooneareaoranother.TheseincludeStevenBassett,
Julio Escalona, Simon Esmonde-Cleary, Lisa Fentress, Riccardo Francovich, Hugh
Kennedy,EduardoManzano,UlfNa¨sman,PierreOuzoulias,ClaudeRaynaud,Peter
Sarris, and Paul Van Ossel. I must also here express my great debt to Rosamond
McKitterick, Ghislaine Noye´, and Pierre Toubert, who invited me to teach in,
respectively,theUniversityofCambridge(togivethe2003TrevelyanLectures),the
E´coledesChartes,andtheColle`gedeFrance;thelecturesIgavethereareall,inmore
orlessrevisedform,inthisbookandIgainedenormouslyfromtheconversationsand
library access—and the time to research and write—that I had both in Cambridge
andinParis.
I benefited from ideas and bibliographical or other help from, apart from those
mentioned above, Stuart Airlie, Donald Bailey, Franc¸ois Baratte, Bernard Bavant,
AndreaBerlin,Franc¸oisBougard,MoniqueBourin,AlanBowman,LuisCaballero,
FedericoCantini,GillClark,SimonCorcoran,BillDay,PaoloDelogu,ArchieDunn,
SantiagoFeijoo,LaurentFeller,RebeccaFoote,SauroGelichi,SharonGerstel,Mary
Harlow, Jill Harries, Catherine Hills, Richard Hodges, Sonja Jilek, Jeremy Johns,
Olga Karagiorgiou, Sean Kingsley, Luke Lavan, Ste´phane Lebecq, Re´gine Le Jan,
WolfLiebeschuetz,AntonioMalpica,CyrilMango,AlessandraMolinari,JintyNel-
son,MargaretO’Hea,LauroOlmo,HelenPatterson,WalterPohl,AndrewPoulter,
Dominic Rathbone, Mark Redknap, Paul Reynolds, Charlotte Roueche´, Riccardo
Santangeli, Sven Schu¨tte, Chris Scull, Trish Skinner, Jean-Pierre Sodini, Fre´de´ric
viii Acknowledgements
Trement, Marco Valenti, Alan Walmsley, Mark Whyman, Ian Wood, and Enrico
Zanini.AparticularthanksisowedtoSueBowen,whohasspentwhatamountsto
years typing this book, and to Harry Buglass, who drew the maps. The index was
compiledbyAliciaCorreˆa.Herethelistiscertainlyincomplete,butcanbeaddedto
with some of the more specific acknowledgements in footnotes; I am also very
grateful to the wide range of people who sent me their books and articles, many
unpublished,includingdoctoraltheses;Icouldnothavewrittenthisbookwithout
you.Ihavetriedtorestrictthislisttothosewho,knowinglyorunknowingly,hada
directeffectonthebook;ifIwastoincludetherestofthepeoplewithwhomIhave
dealtfruitfullyandintellectuallysince1997,thelistwouldbeatleasttwiceaslong.
Imustfinallythankthreeinstitutions:theUniversityofBirminghamMainLibrary,
and the Ashmolean (now Sackler) Library in Oxford, where I did most of my
research—I could not have written without the latter in particular; and the British
Academy,whosegrantingofaResearchReadershipin1997–9enabledmetostart
thisprojectinthefirstplace.Thisbookisthe(delayed)resultofthatReadership.
Birmingham C.J.W.
April2004
Contents
Listofmaps x
Abbreviations xi
Notesonterminology xiv
1. Introduction 1
Part I. States
2. Geographyandpolitics 17
3. Theformofthestate 56
Part II. Aristocratic power-structures
4. Aristocracies 153
5. Managingtheland 259
6. Politicalbreakdownandstate-buildingintheNorth 303
Part III. Peasantries
7. Peasantsandlocalsocieties:casestudies 383
8. Ruralsettlementandvillagesocieties 442
9. Peasantsocietyanditsproblems 519
Part IV. Networks
10. Cities 591
11. Systemsofexchange 693
12. Generalconclusions 825
Bibliography 832
1. Primarysources 832
2. Secondarysources 845
Index 944
Description:The Roman empire tends to be seen as a whole whereas the early middle ages tends to be seen as a collection of regional histories, roughly corresponding to the land-areas of modern nation states. As a result, early medieval history is much more fragmented, and there have been few convincing synthese
