The Making of Europe : Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change, 950 - 1350

"From our twentieth-century perspective, we tend to think of the Europe of the past as a colonizer, a series of empires that conquered lands beyond their borders and forced European cultural values on other peoples. This provocative book shows that Europe in the Middle Ages was as much a product of a process of conquest and colonization as it was later a colonizer." "Robert Bartlett concentrates on the establishment of states by conquest and the peopling of distant countries by immigrants along the peripheries of the European continent. He asks what developments in language, law, belief, and habit accompanied warfare and settlement, as he explores the formation of racially mixed societies on the edges of Europe and the ideological justification for aggressive expansion." "This fascinating account shows how the expansionary power of this civilization sprang from its centers, even if it may be seen most starkly at its edges. Hence the theme is not only colonial conquest and settlement, the moving edge, but also the formation of an increasingly homogeneous society that by the end of the Middle Ages lay poised to enter a yet more expansionary phase of its history: one whose consequences are still around us."--Jacket. Contents Maps, Figures and Tables Plates Acknowledgements A Note on References Introduction 1. The Expansion of Latin Christendom THE SPREAD OF BISHOPRICS 950-1300 PROBLEMS OF EXPLANATION 2. The Aristocratic Diaspora CONQUEST LORDSHIPS NEW CROWNS THE NATURE OF ARISTOCRATIC EXPANSIONISM THE IMPACT ON THE PERIPHERY 3. Military Technology and Political Power HEAVY CAVALRY BOWMEN CASTLES THE SPREAD OF FRANKISH ARMS 4. The Image of the Conqueror CONQUEST AND THE IMAGINATION: TIME, MEMORY, THE PAST THE LITERATURE OF CONQUEST NAMING 5. The Free Village PATTERNS OF MIGRATION THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK THE MEANING OF FREEDOM 6. The New Landscape LEAVING HOME LAYING FOUNDATIONS QUESTIONS OF SCALE NEW TOOLS CEREALIZATION NON-WRITTEN EVIDENCE 7. Colonial Towns and Colonial Traders FAMILIES OF URBAN LAW BURGESS IMMIGRATION TRADING NETWORKS 8. Race Relations on the Frontiers of Latin Europe (1): Language and Law LANGUAGE LAW LANGUAGES OF LAW THE CASE OF IRELAND DIVERSITY AND UNIFORMITY OF LAW 9. Race Relations on the Frontiers of Latin Europe (2): Power and Blood THE CHURCH THE PRINCELY COURT THE GROWTH OF RACISM IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 10. The Roman Church and the Christian People THE ROLE OF THE PAPACY THE CONCEPT OF CHRISTENDOM THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS THE CRUSADES 1 1. The Europeanization of Europe SAINTS AND NAMES COINS AND CHARTERS THE UNIVERSITY 12. The Political Sociology of Europe after the Expansion THE CHANGING SHAPE OF EUROPEAN CHRISTENDOM TRANSFORMATION ON THE PERIPHERY MEDIEVAL AND MODERN COLONIALISM Abbreviations Used in Notes and Bibliography Notes Bibliography of Works Cited Index

From our twentieth-century perspective, we tend to think of the Europe of the past as a colonizer, a series of empires that conquered lands beyond their borders and forced European cultural values on other peoples. This provocative book shows that Europe in the Middle Ages was as much a product of a process of conquest and colonization as it was later a colonizer.

This provocative book shows that Europe in the Middle Ages was as much a product of a process of conquest and colonization as it was later a colonizer. "Will be of great interest to. . . . (those) interested in cultural transformation, colonialism, racism, the Crusades, or holy wars in general. . . ."--William C. Jordan, Princeton University. 12 halftones, 12 maps, 6 diagrams.

Whatever else may have been expanding in the High Middle Ages, there is no doubt about the widening bounds of Latin Christendom, that area of Christendom that recognized papal authority and celebrated the Latin liturgy.