Italy in the Central Middle Ages: 1000-1300 (Short Oxford History of Italy)

Incorporating the latest developments in the study of the period, a team of leading international scholars provides a fresh and dynamic picture of a period of great transformation in the political, cultural, and economic life of the Italian peninsula, which witnessed the rise of autonomous city states in the north, the creation of a powerful kingdom in the south, and the development of the Italian language as a vehicle for literary expression. Cover Contents General Editor’s Preface Acknowledgements List of contributors Introduction: The many Italies of the Middle Ages PART I: RULERS AND SUBJECTS 1 Cities and communes Introduction Origins of the communes Civic institutions, office-holding, and law Warfare and city leagues Urban elites and factionalism Conclusion 2 Law and monarchy in the south Norman unification The Norman kingdom of Sicily The kingdom as a political entity Kingship and the royal court Norman administration The kings’ ambitions and diplomacy Transition Frederick II Restoration of royal authority The Norman inheritance A changed kingdom The dismemberment of Frederick II’s dominion Charles of Anjou and the two kingdoms The Sicilian Vespers and arrival of the king of Aragon The two kingdoms of Sicily and Naples 3 Papal Italy Introduction The pope and the emperors The papal recovery Institutions North and south Papal itineration Development and support for the faith Defending the faith: heresy The Jubilee Conclusion 4 The rise of the signori Piacenza Verona Milan Ferrara Some common themes PART II: SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION 5 Trade and navigation Italian maritime expansion in the western Mediterranean Italian maritime expansion in the eastern Mediterranean Italian cities and the Mediterranean, 1200–1350 Technical and institutional aspects of Italian maritime commerce Maritime commerce and the Italian economy 6 Material life Buildings and living conditions Personal possessions: the domestic life Tools and equipment Food and ephemera Luxury items Conclusions 7 Rural Italy The rural landscape: castelli and lords Parallel developments in southern Italy The rural communes The rural economy Conclusion 8 The family General themes Wives, husbands, and children The role of government Names Stories of family life 9 Language and culture Language in Italy c.1000 Linguistic change up to 1300 Cultural centres, schools, and libraries The first documents in the vernacular and para-literary traditions The establishment of literary traditions PART III: THE OTHER FACES OF ITALY 10 The Italian other: Greeks, Muslims, and Jews The Greeks The Muslims The Jews Conclusion 11 Sardinia and Italy The papacy and Sardinia: political and ecclesiastical intervention The political penetration of Pisa and Genoa in the eleventh and twelfth centuries Judicial dynasties and mainland lords The end of the judicatures and Pisan Sardinia Pisan and Genoese economic activity in Sardinia: modes and consequences The Catalan–Aragonese conquest and the end of Pisan Sardinia Conclusion Further reading Glossary Chronology Maps Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Z The eleventh to the early fourteenth centuries saw a great transformation in the political, cultural and economic life of the Italian peninsula, marked by the rise of the autonomous city-states in the north and centre, the expansion of international trade, and the creation of a wealthy southern kingdom which reached the peak of its power in this period, before fragmenting in two in the late thirteenth century. It was also the period in which the various dialects that we now call the Italian language came into being, and in which Tuscan in particular became the vehicle for impressive literary innovation. Presenting a rounded view of Italy at a time when it was the most dynamic region in western Europe, this book looks at Italy in its entirety, rather than concentrating largely on the north, as previous studies have done. It also includes expert coverage of topics such as the family and the Jewish, Greek, and Muslim minority communities, in addition to its coverage of developments in the cities, rural life, trade, the monarchy, papal Italy, and language and culture. Writing the early history of a politically fragmented and economically diverse territory which has only been unified in recent times is a difficult task; both medieval Italy and medieval Germany, tied together by their links to the Holy Roman Empire, have posed similar problems in this respect. 'Communal Italy' is historians' shorthand for the highly urbanized areas of Lombardy and Tuscany between the twelfth and the early fourteenth centuries.