The Middle Ages are regarded as the age of knights and castles, a time of »feudal« violence and »feudal« lordship, while the early 11th century is regarded as the birthplace of this »feudal society«. The present volume opens a new perspective on the transformations of the 10th to 12th centuries.
The 11th century stands as the watershed between the »early« and »high« Middle Ages. Exactly what this means is hotly debated by historians, but at some point between the 10th and 12th centuries, the Carolingian World had changed into a political, social, and economic order distinctly different from earlier centuries, a world of knights, castles, and cities. Historians have discussed the nature of these transformations under the label of a medieval »revolution« that led to feudal society. Heavily challenged over the last decades, the »feudal revolution« has recently regained explanatory appeal. This volume opens a new perspective on the debate of the transformations of the 10th to 12th centuries, highlighting the role of the »Gregorian Reform« and the 11th century as a transformative period. The contributions offer case studies on France, Germany, Italy, and northern Spain.
Table of contents:
IntroductionChristoph Haack: After the »Feudal Revolution«: A Look Back on the Debate and a Multiperspective Update
Part I: Historizing and Revising the »Feudal Revolution«- ModelLuise Nöllemeyer: Challenging the Feudal Revolution in the 1990s. The Post-Mortem of a Debate -
Christoph Haack: The Terrors of the Year 1000. Structural Change and Narrations of Conflict -
Isaac Smith: Words of Power, Power of Words. Lexical and Social Change in Mâcon and Freising in the Tenth to Eleventh Centuries
Part II: New Views on Classic TransformationsLukas Werther Local Perspectives on the Measurability and Patterns of Change in Southern Germany from an Archaeological Point of View (c. 500-1300) -
Cornel-Peter Rodenbusch Abandoning Trial in Eleventh Century Catalonia
Part III: »La mutation de l'an 1100«. Feudal Revolution and Gregorian ReformCharles West: »This toll must be paid at Koblenz«. Merchants and the »Feudal Revolution« in the Eleventh-Century Rhineland -
Thomas Kohl: A Feudal Transformation in the Empire? Historiography, Tradition and Sources -
Alessio Fiore: Building the »Feudal Revolution«. Power, Buildings, Economic Resources, and Aristocratic Identities in Central and Northern Italy (c. 950-c. 1150) -
Florian Mazel: Rethinking Lordship in the Tenth to Eleventh Centuries. »Shared Lordship« between Laymen and Clerics and its Contestation
ResponseChris Wickham: After the »Feudal Revolution«? A Response
