Books in the Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series series

What did it mean to be Roman once the Empire had collapsed in the West? This is the first systematic study of the changing nature of Roman identity in post-Roman North Africa, revealing the value and flexibility of the notion of 'Romanness' across the Mediterranean.

Original and engaging, this substantial contribution to the study of the Rus Primary Chronicle, the most important piece of evidence for the history of the Rus in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, includes the first English-language translations of key Slavonic sources.

The least-studied state of the late medieval Italy is that of the Este family, lords (later Dukes) of the cities of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. This book is the first modern attempt to provide a detailed analysis of the political structure of this state based on archive sources.

This is a full-scale study of the political thought of the Italian jurist, Baldus de Ubaldis (1327-1400). It examines his treatment of universal and territorial sovereignty; his contribution to the development of the idea of the state; his theory of the sovereignty of independent city-republics; his ideas of citizenship; and his discussion of kingship and signorie.

This book offers perspectives on the legal and intellectual developments of the twelfth century. Gratian's collection of Church law, the Decretum, was a key text in these developments. Compiled in around 1140, it remained a fundamental work throughout and beyond the Middle Ages. Until now, the many mysteries surrounding the creation of the Decretum have remained unsolved, thereby hampering exploration of the jurisprudential renaissance of the twelfth century. Professor Winroth has now discovered the original version of the Decretum, which has long lain unnoticed among medieval manuscripts, in a version about half as long as the final text. It is also different from the final version in many respects - for example, with regard to the use of of Roman law sources - enabling a reconsideration of the resurgence of law in the twelfth century.

This book is a study of imperialism and its consequences in the early Middle Ages. Focusing on the development of Brittany as a Carolingian principality, this book offers interpretations of the largest western empire of the medieval period.

This lively study of Muslims living under Christian rule in medieval Spain confronts questions of community relations, politics, trade and government, through a study of the common people of the era. It focuses on the evolution of an independent Islamic society into one living under Christian political domination.

This 1995 book explores how political power was exerted and family identity expressed in the context of reconstruction of the noble families of the medieval duchies of Gaeta, Amalfi and Naples. It is of special relevance to European studies of early medieval family and state structures.

This book offers a wide-ranging study of the court of Guelders in the Low Countries, offering an excellent vantage point for the study of late medieval court culture. Poised between French and German spheres of influence, it shows how Guelders can be taken as representative of Europe's many medium-sized courts.

This book is a study of the reformation in ecclesiastical politics in twelfth-century England whereby the cathedral chapter, by gradually gaining control of more of its own wealth and resources, increased its power and emerged as a community largely independent of the bishop.

Based on newly reconstructed documentation for the University of Paris, this book is the most detailed study of the social composition of a medieval university at a single point in time ever attempted, exploring both the socio-economic background of medieval university education and the history and topography of medieval Paris.

Marshall's study of warfare in the Latin East from the end of the Third Crusade to the final demise of the Latin Kingdom in 1291 differentiates between methods of military activity, offering a unique dissemination of the precise weaknesses of the crusader states in the thirteenth century.

The barbarians of the fifth and sixth centuries have long been considered the ethnic group responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire. This book challenges this interpretation, through a case-study of the Goths of Italy between 489 and 554.

In the later Middle Ages people increasingly viewed themselves in terms of how they were seen in relation to others, the world and God. This book explores religious handbooks, theological writings and medieval scientific works to show how this question of vision led to a unique concept of the self.

The reign of Richard II has long been subject to intense debate. This new interpretation of the politics of the late-fourteenth century offers an in-depth survey of Richard's reign from the perspective of one of the leading nobles who came to oppose him, Thomas Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick.

In the first dedicated treatment of Anglo-Saxon assembly politics since the 1950s, Roach takes into account recent discussions of continental rulership in the early Middle Ages. He investigates the constitutional aspects of assemblies and the symbolic and representational nature of these gatherings, and challenges existing models of the late Anglo-Saxon state.

In this study, first published in 1988, the authors offer the first full-scale study of William of Tyre as a historian. They examine the influences which fashioned his material, and examine what he had to say about certain topics - the monarchy in Jerusalem, the Church, the papacy, the Byzantine empire and the Crusade - and why he wrote as he did.

This major study deals with the collapse of the pan-European Carolingian empire in 888, as seen through the reign of its last ruler Charles the Fat. It argues against traditionally pessimistic views of this important period, offering alternative interpretations of early medieval kingship.

The barbarian law codes, compiled between the sixth and eighth centuries, were copied remarkably frequently in the Carolingian ninth century. They provide crucial evidence for early medieval society, including the settlement of disputes, the nature of political authority, literacy, and the construction of ethnic identities. Yet it has proved extremely difficult to establish why the codes were copied in the ninth century, how they were read, and how their rich evidence should be used. Thomas Faulkner tackles these questions more systematically than ever before, proposing new understandings of the relationship between the making of law and royal power, and the reading of law and the maintenance of ethnic identities. Faulkner suggests major reinterpretations of central texts, including the Carolingian law codes, the capitularies adding to the laws, and Carolingian revisions of earlier barbarian and Roman laws. He also provides detailed analysis of legal manuscripts, especially those associated with the leges-scriptorium.

Cultural exchange between English and Irish neighbours in the 'four obedient shires' went both ways. Sparky Booker examines the nature of these complex interactions, the tensions that existed between assimilation and the preservation of distinct cultural identities, and the impact this had on English identity in Ireland.

Almost every English town and village has a parish church, but how was its construction financed and managed? This original and authoritative study explains how economic change, local politics and architectural creation combined in late-medieval England to complete one of the most demanding tasks that any parish could undertake.

During the Middle Ages, rape and abduction were understood together as forms of theft. This study of illicit sexuality in medieval England is the first to explore these overlapping offences, examining how women operated within the legal system and the impact this had on their lives.

The general councils of the fifteenth century constituted a remarkable political experiment, which used collective decision-making to tackle important problems facing the church. This book offers a fundamental reassessment of England's relationship with these councils, revealing how political thought, heresy, and collective politics were connected.

Despite the recent renaissance in studies of the reign of Richard III, most historians have remained focussed on conventional themes, especially the character and motivation of the king and the fate of his nephews. Less attention, as a result, has been devoted to the reign's importance in the patterns of late medieval government and in the evolution of royal authority.

An examination of the gentry as land holders, pillars of society, political leaders, family members and individuals.

This is a study of landholding and alliance in England in the years 950 to 1086. It will become the standard work on the often volatile relationship between the king and the great lords in this key transitional period.

Which of the two sides of Clement prevailed the 'official' or the personal? The book attempts to answer this question by examining both his ideas and his actions in connection with some of the major issues of the reign.

This is a detailed study of the forms in which charitable giving was organised in medieval Cambridge and Cambridgeshire, unravelling the economic and demographic factors which created the need for relief as well as the forms in which the community offered it.

This is the first full-length analysis of the machinery and men of government under Henry I, which looks in much greater detail than is possible for other contemporary states at the way government worked and at the careers of royal servants.

Gregory the Great interpreted the Bible with equal emphasis on the practical living of the good Christian life and the aspiration of the soul towards God and the life to come. This study looks at his thought as a whole, and the way he arrived at a balance between the archive and the way he arrived at a balance between the active and the contemplative.