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Chris Wickham

Medieval Europe Hardcover – November 29, 2016

by Chris Wickham (Author)

4.2 421 ratings

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A spirited and thought-provoking history of the vast changes that transformed Europe during the 1,000-year span of the Middle Ages

The millennium between the breakup of the western Roman Empire and the Reformation was a long and hugely transformative period—one not easily chronicled within the scope of a few hundred pages. Yet distinguished historian Chris Wickham has taken up the challenge in this landmark book, and he succeeds in producing the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation.

Tracking the entire sweep of the Middle Ages across Europe, Wickham focuses on important changes century by century, including such pivotal crises and moments as the fall of the western Roman Empire, Charlemagne’s reforms, the feudal revolution, the challenge of heresy, the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, the rebuilding of late medieval states, and the appalling devastation of the Black Death. He provides illuminating vignettes that underscore how shifting social, economic, and political circumstances affected individual lives and international events. Wickham offers both a new conception of Europe’s medieval period and a provocative revision of exactly how and why the Middle Ages matter.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

November 29, 2016
Dimensions

9.3 x 6 x 1.4 inches
ISBN-10

0300208340
ISBN-13

978-0300208344
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Editorial Reviews

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"A dazzling race through a complex millennium."—Publishers Weekly

"A thorough survey of the European continent in the time between antiquity and modernity. . . . Far-ranging, fluent, and thoughtful—of considerable interest to students of history writ large, and not just of Europe."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Wickham’s interpretation of the European Middle Ages is one of vibrancy and dynamism, a welcome reminder of why many people find this period fascinating.”—Jonathan R. Lyon, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Historians of the medieval period and beyond, however, should benefit from Wickham’s particular vision of the Middle Ages as a series of major turning points knit together by structural forces. His assessment of the respective roles played by various elements in this tapestry is thought provoking."—Robert Sutherland-Harris, Renaissance and Reformation

“Medieval Europe is a testament to Chris Wickham’s authoritative command of the material and to his clarity of thought . . . thought-provoking.”—James Davis, Renaissance Quarterly

“[The] broad purview, memorable terseness, and focus on what is important make this book well worth reading.”—Lawrence G. Duggan, Anglican and Episcopal History

"Writing with great wit, style and clarity, Chris Wickham presents to us a powerful account of the middle ages as a period of considerable dynamism and massive change. Emperors, popes, theologians, knights and mystics are found herein, but so too are cities, peasants, merchants, and the material experiences of the many and not just the few. Above all else, Wickham shows us the economic and structural bones beneath the skin. This is the middle ages that the twenty-first century needs to know about – not the gaudy antithesis of 'modernity' but the centuries of human toil, ingenuity and compromise in which real people made choices, albeit not in circumstances of their own choosing."—John Arnold, Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge

"Medieval Europe is a model of clarity and accessibility, the superlative answer to a challenge taken up by an eminent and wide-ranging historian: to interpret the history of a millennium in 250 pages. This yields a sense of intellectual adventure that remains compelling throughout, as Chris Wickham engages his readers in his arguments, choices and interpretations, and keeps them on their toes."—Mayke de Jong, Utrecht University

"This is tremendously good. Chris Wickham has an outstandingly keen and understanding eye for the diversities of life across a broadly-framed Europe, and for changes over time. Impressive geographic reach is combined with nuance, and a keen sense of the particularities of different historical landscapes. The author continually makes illuminating connections and comparisons, and does not flinch from offering clear judgments or nailing his own colours to the mast. Indeed, he has a consistently refreshing ability to get the reader away from predictable or ingrained ways of thinking about and judging things."—Len Scales, University of Durham

"Fascinating, judicious, authoritative: by far the best single book about the Middle Ages. I wish this had been around earlier in my teaching career. Perhaps Wickham's most unusual accomplishment is that this survey never seems hurried. Without apparent strain, details and examples of historical trends are related to grand themes and changes."—Paul Freedman, author of Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination

About the Author

Chris Wickham is Chichele Professor of Medieval History, University of Oxford. He lives in Birmingham, UK.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Illustrated edition (November 29, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300208340
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300208344
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.7 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 6 x 1.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8,543 in Historical Study (Books)
- #15,729 in European History (Books)

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Cogent and Interesting

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 12, 2022

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Great midieval history, stressing continuity with the Roman empire, as is now fashionable. The central argument is that the "feudal revolution" that made power highly devolved starting in the eleventh century made possible a more "engaged" (democratic, though that word is never used) polity when centralized power reemerged after 1350. Centralized power itself was not new, as it existed with the Carolingians, Byzantines, and Romans before then, but the ability of local communities to push back was new.

To truly evaluate the argument, you would need to compare to the Muslim and Asian empires, which would be interesting to do but that I haven't seen anyone do. Interesting thought regardless.

2 people found this helpful

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parallel

Brilliance amid the weeds

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 13, 2021

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The author is brilliant and has a depth of understanding of the age. Unfortunately, it seems as though he wants to punish the reader. Perhaps, he thinks that he has worked so hard to decipher the age that his readers must pay penance. Otherwise, I don’t see how he could create a maze of a sentence such as: “We do not have the remarkable early notarial registers for Pisa that we have for Genoa, its sister city and rival, from the 1150s onwards, which show the complexity of the contracts which ship-owners made by now, and the density of funding of sea commerce engaged in by traditional élite families, stretching again, very visibly, all over the Mediterranean.”

He seems to take perverse pleasure in jamming as many ideas as possible in each sentence. As a result, the reader is left holding a disappearing rope of an idea. By the end of a paragraph, I had to return to the beginning just to remind myself of the original thesis.

Wickham has a pure historian’s sense. He refuses to bow to the popular or established interpretation. Sadly, I was only able to glean a third of his brilliance due to his writing.

55 people found this helpful

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Book Worm

The dark ages, not so dark after all

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 25, 2017

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A wonderful book for a lay history buff, thought provoking, introducing new perspective and insights, comprehensive and revealing.
Reading this book opened my eyes for how narrow history was taught in schools (during my school days, a while back).

News for me were: Rome did not collapse, popes, emperors and kings had to consult, negotiate, make deals, bargain, with a wide array of stakeholders, adversaries and supporters. And - as today - money matters, most notably taxes (I don't recall having heard about their importance in school).

The later economic rise of European nations was not an accident either or, as the current mainstream narrative would have it, based mostly on exploitative colonialism or imperialism. While reading this book, I realized that the later European accomplishments in the development of technology, complex economies and military strength were to a large extent the result of a gradual development of a culture of allowing diverse ideas and innovations to flourish and putting then to the test in public discourse or practical application. This process, I learned, started already in the early middle ages and survived all the mayhem caused by wars, climate change and the black death as the driver of economic development from the renaissance, through the enlightenment, the industrial revolution all the way to the collapse of the old world order in 1914.

Lastly, much to learn for observers of current day politics, and lessons to be learned that are still valid - if they were applied.

6 people found this helpful

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A Magnificent Summary of Developments over a Millennium

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 12, 2017

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This is a truly magnificent summary of what is known about the Middle Ages in Europe, where Europe is broadly conceived: the Byzantine Empire to Andalus, Iceland to Russia, although inevitably, in the current state of research, most attention focuses on developments in Western Europe. Wickham summarizes with great clarity the developing scholarly consensus on how Europe developed during this era; broad trends are visible, almost century by century, but with major differences between particular areas and considerable interaction especially during the later period. Nothing significant is omitted. Political developments take pride of place, but Wickham devotes ample space to the economy as it gradually revived after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and also to social and religious conflicts. The culture of the Middle Ages, by contrast, is given relatively short shrift since many other surveys cover it. I read this book in preparation for a trip to see French Gothic cathedrals, and I now feel much better equipped to place them in a proper historical context. Wickham's writing, furthermore, is engrossing, often pointed and always precise. The author intervenes more than occasionally to give his personal views, which, coming from such an accomplished scholar, are more than welcome. The maps and illustrations are excellent. In short, it would be hard to better this volume.

43 people found this helpful

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carys

Skip chapter 1!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 8, 2018

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Wickham does a decent job creating an overview narrative of the Medieval period. However, Wickham needs to focus on whats required for a paragraph and what could go into a footnote. The constant adding of extra thoughts and information throughout the book makes comprehension incredibly hard and frustrating.
Another problem I have with Wickham is the first chapter. The first chapter misleads readers into believing it is going to set them up for the rest of the book. Where in reality the first chapter is just a foreword by the author and his dislike of modernity ( the quality or condition of being modern). This chapter is tough to navigate, comprehend, and enjoy. Setting up, at least for me, dread to read the rest of his work.
I don't want to say I would not suggest Wickham for anyone who wants an overview of the medieval period. As he does bring up a bunch of exciting concepts and events that happened during the medieval period. I would suggest skipping the first chapter entirely. Start at chapter two and don't feel inadequate if there is a need to reread a section. I am currently gaining an MA in Medieval Europe and England and found this tough to understand.
Thank you!!

90 people found this helpful

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Some Guy

This author's conception of history and mine do not match

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 14, 2022

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The notion that the Ottoman Empire is essentially a continuation of the Byzantine Empire merely because they used similar economic foundations is profoundly foolish and enough that I don't want to read the rest of the book

One person found this helpful

Paul G

Lectura exquisita

Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on November 24, 2019

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Realizar una síntesis de Europa medieval es sin duda un gran desafío, pero este libro ha cumplido justo esa función, abarca en tiempo desde el decaimiento del imperio romano de oeste hasta la reforma, abarca todas las regiones de Europa incluyendo las del norte, habla de los califatos, los bizantinos y posteriormente los otomanos. no es una lectura pesada pero si muy completa a manera de síntesis.

Idioma: Inglés

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Eric Schallenberg

A treatise for the serious student

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 14, 2020

Verified Purchase

This most certainly is not a popular history book. The book focuses on the sociological and political aspects of the development of post-Roman societies within and outside the sphere of influence of the former Roman Empire. The reader is assumed to be fully familiar with the historical background facts, events and developments over that 1,000 year period. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I'm just saying that this has to be your expertise and field of interest.

If it's not, you will find this book a struggle to get through. The academic style in which it is written doesn't help. The text is full of forward and back references , a thing that my teachers always firmly taught me to avoid when I was still writing papers. And personally, I found little of "the great wit and style" that the book's liner notes tell us the book was written in. Luckily for the serious but lazy student, the last chapter is a summary of the book's contents. The really serious student however might well decide that 1,000 years of sociological and political development in around 250 pages means that this book is not digging deep enough to their taste.

As an introductory textbook for University level history students this book certainly is useful and informative. The general reader looking for more popular history and more accessible writing should look elsewhere.

11 people found this helpful

Djilly L.

Ambitious book, but a good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

Nice book for a lay history enthusiast like me, well written and very well structured. It's also surprisingly short for a period that covers a 1000-years. Must say that I expected a more colourful account of life, culture and practices in the middle ages. Instead it’s a high-level chronological narrative/interpretation of what drove key changes throughout the period, with not too much detail.

Having said that, the writer uses interesting scholarly tools like the source of taxes to explain differences in development and isn’t shy to take a more controversial view. It’s also refreshing that he mostly ignores the chewed-out lives and deeds of well-known rulers.
Aside from this there weren’t that many new things for me and I found that a lot of important topics were only dealt with in summary.

12 people found this helpful

Jean G

A brilliant summary

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is a brilliant summary of 1000 years of European history. It's also very well written. Wickham’s pithy way of packing ideas into single sentences is sometimes breathtaking. So is his forthright approach to teleological and other commonly perpetuated myths about the period. If I've given it four stars rather than five, this is because the emphasis is too much on political history at the expense of the economic and social background, leaving many questions which I suspect could be answered, particularly given the wealth of recent new archaeological material. But for the general reader seeking to get developments across the continent in this difficult-to-understand period into perspective, this is an excellent book. I particularly appreciated that unlike so many books claiming to be histories of Europe, this one deals with the whole continenet, not just its south-west corner.

6 people found this helpful

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