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Violence in Medieval Europe Warren C. Brown

Violence in Medieval Europe By Warren C. Brown

Violence in Medieval Europe by Warren C. Brown


Condition - Good
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Summary

Drawing on a wide variety of primary sources, Warren Brown examines the norms governing violence within medieval societies from the sixth to the fourteenth century, over an area covering the Romance and the Germanic speaking regions of the continent as well as England.

Violence in Medieval Europe Summary

Violence in Medieval Europe by Warren C. Brown

The European Middle Ages have long attracted popular interest as an era characterised by violence, whether a reflection of societal brutality and lawlessness or part of a romantic vision of chivalry. Violence in Medieval Europe engages with current scholarly debate about the degree to which medieval European society was in fact shaped by such forces.

Drawing on a wide variety of primary sources, Warren Brown examines the norms governing violence within medieval societies from the sixth to the fourteenth century, over an area covering the Romance and the Germanic-speaking regions of the continent as well as England. Scholars have often told the story of violence and power in the Middle Ages as one in which 'private' violence threatened and sometimes destroyed 'public' order. Yet academics are now asking to what degree violence that we might call private, in contrast to the violence wielded by a central authority, might have been an effective social tool. Here, Brown looks at how private individuals exercised violence in defence of their rights or in vengeance for wrongs within a set of clearly understood social rules, and how over the course of this period, kings began to claim the exclusive right to regulate the violence of their subjects as part of their duty to uphold God's order on earth.

Violence in Medieval Europe provides both an original take on the subject and an illuminating synthesis of recent and classic scholarship. It will be invaluable to students and scholars of history, medieval studies and related areas, for the light it casts not just on violence, but on the evolution of the medieval political order.

Violence in Medieval Europe Reviews

One of the particular merits of this study as a textbook is its demonstration of how to approach the primary sources. The case-studies emphasise how important the perspective of the sources is in determining whether actions are reported as legitimate or illegitimate violence. Each chapter opens with a sure-handed sketch of the wider context, with an impressive summary of the 'Transformation of the year 1000' in Chapter Four, for example, and an excellent introduction to the study of ritual in Chapter Five.

Brown succeeds both in showing that medieval violence was purposeful and embedded in changing norms, and in offering some new perspectives on the sources and topics covered. This is a clear and stimulating survey, which will be a valuable addition to reading lists, and provoke further discussion among specialists.

- The English Historical Review

About Warren C. Brown

Warren C. Brown is Associate Professor of History at the California Institute of Technology. His previous publications include Unjust Seizure: Conflict, Interest, and Authority in an Early Medieval Society.

Table of Contents

1.Violence and the Medieval Historian Part One Competing Orders 2. Violence among the early Franks 3. Charlemagne, God, and the License to Kill Part Two Local and Royal Power in the Eleventh Century 4. Violence, the Aristocracy, and the Church at the Turn of the First Millennium 5. Violence and Ritual Part Three Twelfth-Century Transformations 6. Violence, the Princes, and the Towns 7. Violence and the Law in England Part Four A Monopoly on Violence? 8. A Saxon Mirror 9. Violence and War in France 10. Conclusion: Competing Norms and the Legacy of Medieval Violence

Additional information

CIN1405811641G
9781405811644
1405811641
Violence in Medieval Europe by Warren C. Brown
Used - Good
Paperback
Taylor & Francis Ltd
20100817
344
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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Customer Reviews - Violence in Medieval Europe