Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, C. 700-C. 1500: A Framework for Comparing Three Spheres

This comparative study explores three key cultural and political spheres - the Latin west, Byzantium and the Islamic world from Central Asia to the Atlantic - roughly from the emergence of Islam to the fall of Constantinople. These spheres drew on a shared pool of late antique Mediterranean culture, philosophy and science, and they had monotheism and historical antecedents in common. Yet where exactly political and spiritual power lay, and how it was exercised, differed. This book focuses on power dynamics and resource-allocation among ruling elites; the legitimisation of power and property with the aid of religion; and on rulers' interactions with local elites and societies. Offering the reader route-maps towards navigating each sphere and grasping the fundamentals of its political culture, this set of parallel studies offers a timely and much needed framework for comparing the societies surrounding the medieval Mediterranean.-- Provided by publisher Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures and Maps List of Contributors Preface and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations General Maps 1 Political Culture in Three Spheres: Introduction 2 Reflections on Political Culture in Three Spheres Part I Sources 3 Comparing the Three Spheres through the Prism of the Sources 4 The Latin West: Sources 5 Byzantium: Sources 6 The Islamic World: Sources Part II Historical Contexts 7 The Latin West: Pluralism in the Shadow of the Past 8 Byzantium: One or Many? 9 The Islamic World: Conquest, Migration and Accommodating Diversity Part III Norms, Values and Their Propagation 10 The Latin West: Expectations and Legitimisation 11 Byzantium: Imperial Order, Constantinopolitan Ceremonial and Pyramids of Power 12 The Islamic World: Community, Leadership and Contested Patterns of Continuity Part IV Practice and Organisation 13 The Latin West: Multiple Elites and Overlapping Jurisdictions 14 Byzantium: ‘To Have and To Hold’ – The Acquisition and Maintenance of Elite Power 15 The Islamic World: Nomads, Urban Elites and Courts in Competition Part V Conclusions 16 Comparisons, Connections and Conclusions Appendix Glossary Index "Our main aim is to provide a set of parallel studies to enable readers with experience in the history and historiography of one sphere to gain grounding in the fundamentals of the political cultures of the other two. We hope to provide a framework, or set of starting points, for those keen to work at a comparative level across spheres, or to explore overlaps and entanglements between them. Individual chapters refer to current specialist scholarship and may be of interest to subject specialists, but our overriding concern is to make these spheres accessible to non-specialists"-- Provided by publisher How did elites gain and retain power and resources in the medieval Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic world? This set of parallel studies offers readers an invaluable framework for understanding and comparing the political cultures and societies surrounding the medieval Mediterranean.