Diverging Paths?: The Shapes of Power and Institutions in Medieval Christendom and Islam (The Medieval Mediterranean, 101)

Comparing medieval institutions: a few introductory remarks/ Gadi Algazi -- 2. Institutionalisation between theory and practice: comparative approaches to medieval Islamic and late Roman law / Caroline Humfress -- 3. The Ḥisba, the Muḥtasib and the Struggle over Political Power and a Moral Economy: An Enquiry into Institutions / Eduardo Manzano and Susana Narotzky -- 4. Codification in Byzantium from Justinian to Leo VI / Bernard H. Stolte -- 5. Codification in the Western Middle Ages / Emanuele Conte and Magnus Ryan -- 6. Codifying the Law: The Case of the Medieval Islamic West / Maribel Fierro -- 7. Law and Codification Conclusion / John Hudson -- 8. The Cost of States: Politics and Exactions in the Christian West (Sixth to Fifteenth Centuries) / Sandra Caracci and Simone McOllavini -- 9. Landholding and Law in the Early Islamic State / Hugh Kennedy -- 10. The Mobilisation of Fiscal Resources in the Byzantine Empire: (Eighth to Eleventh Centuries) / Vivien Prigent -- 11. State, Aggregation of the Elites and Redistribution of Resources in Sicily in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries -- Proposals for a new interpretation / Annliese Nef -- 12. Resources and Power -- Conclusion / Eduardo Manzano -- 13. The Palace Complex / Stuart Airlie -- 14. Palaces, Itineraries and Political Order in the Post-Carolingian Kingdoms / Simon MacLean -- 15. Monasteries: Institutionalisation and Organisation of Space in the Byzantine world until the end of the twelfth century / Michel Kaplan -- 16. The institutionalisation of Abbasid ceremonial / Nadia Maria El Cheikh -- 17. Palaces and Places: Conclusion / Ana Rodriguez -- Bibliography -- Index. Diverging Paths? investigates an important question, to which the answers must be very complex: “why did certain sorts of institutionalisation and institutional continuity characterise government and society in Christendom by the later Middle Ages, but not the Islamic world, whereas the reverse end-point might have been predicted from the early medieval situation?” This core question lies within classic historiographical debates, to which the essays in the volume, written by leading medievalists, make significant contributions. The papers, drawing on a wide range of evidence and methodologies, span the middle ages, chronologically and geographically. At the same time, the core question relates to matters of strong contemporary interest, notably the perceived characteristics of power exercised within Islamic Middle Eastern regimes.Contributors are Stuart Airlie, Gadi Algazi, Sandro Carocci, Simone Collavini, Emanuele Conte, Nadia El Cheikh, Maribel Fierro, John Hudson, Caroline Humfress, Michel Kaplan, Hugh Kennedy, Simon MacLean, Eduardo Manzano, Susana Naroztky, Annliese Nef, Vivien Prigent, Ana Rodríguez, Magnus Ryan and Bernard Stolte. Diverging Paths? investigates an important question, to which the answers must be very complex: "why did certain sorts of institutionalisation and institutional continuity characterise government and society in Christendom by the later Middle Ages, but not the Islamic world, whereas the reverse end-point might have been predicted from the early medieval situation?" This core question lies within classic historiographical debates, to which the essays in the volume, written by leading medievalists, make significant contributions. The papers, drawing on a wide range of evidence and methodologies, span the middle ages, chronologically and geographically. At the same time, the core question relates to matters of strong contemporary interest, notably the perceived characteristics of power exercised within Islamic Middle Eastern regimes. Contributors are Stuart Airlie, Gadi Algazi, Sandro Carocci, Simone Collavini, Emanuele Conte, Nadia El Cheikh, Maribel Fierro, John Hudson, Caroline Humfress, Michel Kaplan, Hugh Kennedy, Simon MacLean, Eduardo Manzano, Susana Naroztky, Annliese Nef, Vivien Prigent, Ana Rodríguez, Magnus Ryan and Bernard Stolte Diverging Paths? provides a wide-ranging comparative analysis of institutions, power, and social relations in medieval Christendom and Islam