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Medieval Chinese Medicine: The Dunhuang Medical Manuscripts (Needham Research Institute Series)
by Christopher Cullen Vivienne LoIn recent decades various versions of Chinese medicine have begun to be widely practised in Western countries, and the academic study of the subject is now well established. However, there are still few scholarly monographs that describe the history of Chinese medicine and there are none at all on the medieval period. This collection represents the kind of international collaboration of research teams, centres and individuals that is required to begin to study the source materials adequately. The first book in English to discuss this fascinating material in the century since the Dunhuang library was discovered, the text provides a unique and fascinating interpretation of Chinese medical history.
Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100–1400: Moving beyond the Exceptionalist Debate (The New Middle Ages)
by Heather J. TannerFor decades, medieval scholarship has been dominated by the paradigm that women who wielded power after c. 1100 were exceptions to the “rule” of female exclusion from governance and the public sphere. This collection makes a powerful case for a new paradigm. Building on the premise that elite women in positions of authority were expected, accepted, and routine, these essays traverse the cities and kingdoms of France, England, Germany, Portugal, and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in order to illuminate women’s roles in medieval power structures. Without losing sight of the predominance of patriarchy and misogyny, contributors lay the groundwork for the acceptance of female public authority as normal in medieval society, fostering a new framework for understanding medieval elite women and power.
Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe
by Verena KrebsThis book explores why Ethiopian kings pursued long-distance diplomatic contacts with Latin Europe in the late Middle Ages. It traces the history of more than a dozen embassies dispatched to the Latin West by the kings of Solomonic Ethiopia, a powerful Christian kingdom in the medieval Horn of Africa. Drawing on sources from Europe, Ethiopia, and Egypt, it examines the Ethiopian kings’ motivations for sending out their missions in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries – and argues that a desire to acquire religious treasures and foreign artisans drove this early intercontinental diplomacy. Moreover, the Ethiopian initiation of contacts with the distant Christian sphere of Latin Europe appears to have been intimately connected to a local political agenda of building monumental ecclesiastical architecture in the North-East African highlands, and asserted the Ethiopian rulers’ claim of universal kingship and rightful descent from the biblical king Solomon. Shedding new light on the self-identity of a late medieval African dynasty at the height of its power, this book challenges conventional narratives of African-European encounters on the eve of the so-called ‘Age of Exploration'.
Medieval Europe
by Chris WickhamA spirited history of the changes that transformed Europe during the 1,000-year span of the Middle Ages: &“A dazzling race through a complex millennium.&”—Publishers Weekly 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—and offers both a new conception of Europe&’s medieval period and a provocative revision of exactly how and why the Middle Ages matter. &“Far-ranging, fluent, and thoughtful—of considerable interest to students of history writ large, and not just of Europe.&”—Kirkus Reviews, (starred review) Includes maps and illustrations
Medieval Folk Tales for Children
by Dave Tonge Kim VoiseyCome one, come all for a ride upon Dame Fortune’s wheel! Join many a medieval character as some ride high on good luck, while others fall foul of greed, jealousy and anger. For in this book, storyteller Dave Tonge has adapted traditional tales of proud princes, discontented doctors, mean merchants, covetous cooks, heroic hounds and many more besides. Mixing t hem with morsels of history, Medieval Folk Tales for Children will give young readers a fair and fine flavour of the ups and downs of life from 500 to 1,000 years ago.
Medieval Folklore: A Guide to Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs
by Carl Lindahl; John McNamara; John LindowOver a decade in the making, Medieval Folklore offers a wide-ranging guide to the lore of the Middle Ages--from the mundane to the supernatural. Definitive and lively articles focus on the great tales and traditions of the age and includes information on daily and nightly customs and activities; religious beliefs of the pagan, Christian, Muslim, and Jew; key works of oral and written literature; traditional music and art; holidays and feasts; food and drink; and plants and animals, both real and fantastical. <p><p> While most books on medieval folklore focus primarily on the West, this unique volume brings together an eclectic range of experts to treat the subject from a global perspective. Especially remarkable are the surveys of the major medieval traditions including Arab-Islamic, Baltic, English, Finno-Ugric, French, Hispanic, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Scandinavian, Scottish, Slavic, and Welsh. <p> For anyone who has ever wanted a path through the tangle of Arthurian legends, or the real lowdown on St. Patrick, or the last word on wolf lore--this is the place to look.
Medieval History of India - Competitive Exam
by Indic TrustThis is a compilation of questions answer of Medieval History of India For Civil Services Competitive Examinations.
Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter
by Ian MortimerThe essential introduction to the Middle Ages by the author of The Time Traveller's Guide series—&“the most remarkable medieval historian of our time&” (The Times, UK). We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a dark, backward and unchanging time characterized by violence, ignorance and superstition. By contrast we believe progress arose from science and technological innovation, and that inventions of recent centuries created the modern world. But as Ian Mortimer shows in this fascinating book, we couldn&’t be more wrong. In this revelatory history, Mortimer shows how people's horizons—their knowledge, experience and understanding of the world—were utterly transformed between 1000 and 1600, marking the transition from a warrior-led society to that of Shakespeare.Medieval Horizons sheds light on the enormous cultural changes that took place—from literacy to living standards, inequality and even the developing sense of self. Mortimer demonstrates why this was a revolutionary age of fundamental importance in the development of the Western world.
Medieval Hostageship c.700-c.1500: Hostage, Captive, Prisoner of War, Guarantee, Peacemaker (Routledge Research in Medieval Studies)
by Matthew Bennett Katherine WeikertThis volume explores the issues of taking, using and being hostages in the Middle Ages. It brings together recent research in the areas of hostages and hostageships, looking at the act of hostage-taking and the hostages themselves through the lenses of political and social history. Building upon previous work, this volume in particular critically examines not only the situations of hostages and hostageships but also the broader social and political context of each situation, developing a more complete picture of the phenomenon.
Medieval Hunting
by Richard AlmondHunting was a major economic and leisure activity throughout the later European Middle Ages, but while aristocratic practices have featured in studies of romantic and narrative literature, hunting in its wider sense - across the social spectrum and with attendant male and female roles - has largely been ignored by modern medieval historians. Richard Almond's study brings vividly to life the universality and centrality of hunting to medieval societies, both as an economic necessity and as an expression of medieval humanity's almost atavistic sense of oneness with nature. 'Medieval Hunting' dispels some of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding hunting, including the persistent views that it was exclusively an aristocratic, male pursuit. Using a wide variety of contemporary textual and art historical evidence, Richard Almond shows that hunting, including fishing and poaching, was enjoyed by women as well as men.
Medieval Intersections: Gender and Status in Europe in the Middle Ages
by Katherine Weikert and Elena WoodacreStatus and gender are two closely associated concepts within medieval society, which tended to view both notions as binary: elite or low status, married or single, holy or cursed, male or female, or as complementary and cohesive as multiple parts of a societal whole. With contributions on topics ranging from medieval leprosy to boyhood behaviors, this interdisciplinary collection highlights the various ways “status” can be interpreted relative to gender, and what these two interlocked concepts can reveal about the construction of gendered identities in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Irish Architecture and the Concept of Romanesque: Building Traditions in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Europe
by Tadhg O’KeeffeThis book presents a fresh perspective on eleventh- and twelfth-century Irish architecture, and a critical assessment of the value of describing it, and indeed contemporary European architecture in general, as “Romanesque”. Medieval Irish Architecture and the Concept of Romanesque is a new and original study of medieval architectural culture in Ireland. The book’s central premise is that the concept of a “Romanesque” style in eleventh- and twelfth-century architecture across Western Europe, including Ireland, is problematic, and that the analysis of building traditions of that period is not well served by the assumption that there was a common style. Detailed discussion of important buildings in Ireland, a place marginalised within the “Romanesque” model, reveals the Irish evidence to be intrinsically interesting to students of medieval European architecture, for it is evidence which illuminates how architectural traditions of the Middle Ages were shaped by balancing native and imported needs and aesthetics, often without reference to Romanitas. This book is for specialists and students in the fields of Romanesque, medieval archaeology, medieval architectural history, and medieval Irish studies.
Medieval Irish Architecture and the Concept of Romanesque: Building Traditions in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Europe
by Tadhg O’KeeffeThis book presents a fresh perspective on eleventh- and twelfth-century Irish architecture, and a critical assessment of the value of describing it, and indeed contemporary European architecture in general, as “Romanesque”.Medieval Irish Architecture and the Concept of Romanesque is a new and original study of medieval architectural culture in Ireland. The book’s central premise is that the concept of a “Romanesque” style in eleventh- and twelfth-century architecture across Western Europe, including Ireland, is problematic, and that the analysis of building traditions of that period is not well served by the assumption that there was a common style. Detailed discussion of important buildings in Ireland, a place marginalised within the “Romanesque” model, reveals the Irish evidence to be intrinsically interesting to students of medieval European architecture, for it is evidence which illuminates how architectural traditions of the Middle Ages were shaped by balancing native and imported needs and aesthetics, often without reference to Romanitas.This book is for specialists and students in the fields of Romanesque, medieval archaeology, medieval architectural history, and medieval Irish studies.
Medieval Islamic Economic Thought: Filling the Great Gap in European Economics (Routledge Islamic Studies Series)
by S.M. GhazanfarThis book is a collection of papers on the origins of economic thought discovered in the writings of some prominent Islamic scholars, during the five centuries prior to the Latin Scholastics, who include St. Thomas Aquinas. This period of time was labelled by Joseph Schumpeter as representing the 'great gap' in economic history. Unfortunately, this 'gap' is well embedded in most relevant literature. However, during this period the Islamic civilization was one of the most fertile grounds for intellectual developments in various disciplines, including economics, and this book attempts to fill that blind-spot in the history of economic thought.
Medieval Islamic Pragmatics: Sunni Legal Theorists' Models of Textual Communication (Routledge Arabic Linguistics Series)
by Muhammad M. AliThis book deals with two different pragmatic approaches to textual communication: (i) the mainstream approach followed by the 'Ash'ari s, Hanafi s and Mu'tazili s, (ii) the salafite approach followed mainly by the Hanbali s, defended and elaborated by Ibn Taymiyyah. One of the primary aims of the book is to explore and formulate several Muslim legal theorists' pragmatic theories, communicative principles and linguistic views, construct them in the form of models and set them within a general uniform framework. Another aim is to reveal a corpus of information and data which, though highly relevant to modern pragmatics, is still unknown. This study, which can be seen as an extensive introduction to 'medieval Islamic pragmatics', is the first attempt to examine the approaches followed by the Salafi s or the mainstream from a pragmatic viewpoint. There has been no attempt to explain the principles and the strategies utilised by the medieval Sunni Muslim legal theorists in their account of how communication works and how successful interpretation is achieved. Of course, a lot of work has been done on different Islamic sects and their different positions over the interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah, but these studies fall short of delving into the underlying communicative principles that motivate their differences over interpretation. The author's formulation of the Muslim legal theorists' views is enhanced by setting up a reliable theoretical foundation and by delving into their underlying philosophical principles. This involves relating the legal theorists' insights into interpretation and communication to their relevant ontological, epistemological and theological outlooks, and comparing these insights with their modern pragmatic counterparts.
Medieval Jewish Philosophy: An Introduction (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)
by Lavinia Cohn-Sherbok Dan Cohn-SherbokBeginning with the earliest philosopher of the Middle Ages, Saadiah ben Joseph al-Fayyumi, this work surveys the writings of such figures as Solomon ben Joseph ibn Gabirol, Bahya ben Joseph ibn Pakuda, Abraham ben david Halevi ibn Daud, Judah Halevi, Moses Maimonides, Gersonides, Hasdai Crescas, Simon ben Zemah Duran, Joseph Albo, Isaac Arama, and Isaac Abrabanel. Throughout an attempt is made to place these thinkers in an historical context and describe their contributions to the history of Jewish medieval thought in simple and lucid terms. The book is directed to students enrolled in Jewish studies courses as well as to those who seek an awareness and appreciation of the riches of medieval Jewish philosophical tradition.
Medieval London
by Gwyn A. WilliamsThis unique study is based on the careful interpretation of evidence in the commercial and administrative records of the City and in the royal records, of the process by which London developed from a commune of a feudal kingdom into the capital city of the English nation. The period covered is the century and a half between 1191 and the beginnings of the Hundred Years' War. Leading themes are the emergence of its administrative elite, the changing pattern of its mercantile interests, and the rise of its craft organizations; and a detailed account is given of the social and constitutional conflicts that marked London's history between the popular revolt of 1263 and the succession of Edward III. A notable feature of this volume is the reconstruction from teh records of a large number of outline biographies of Londoners of all classes. This book was first published in 1963.
Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love
by R. Howard BlochUntil now the advent of Western romantic love has been seen as a liberation from—or antidote to—ten centuries of misogyny. In this major contribution to gender studies, R. Howard Bloch demonstrates how similar the ubiquitous antifeminism of medieval times and the romantic idealization of woman actually are. Through analyses of a broad range of patristic and medieval texts, Bloch explores the Christian construction of gender in which the flesh is feminized, the feminine is aestheticized, and aesthetics are condemned in theological terms. Tracing the underlying theme of virginity from the Church Fathers to the courtly poets, Bloch establishes the continuity between early Christian antifeminism and the idealization of woman that emerged in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In conclusion he explains the likely social, economic, and legal causes for the seeming inversion of the terms of misogyny into those of an idealizing tradition of love that exists alongside its earlier avatar until the current era. This startling study will be of great value to students of medieval literature as well as to historians of culture and gender.
Medieval Mobilities: Gendered Bodies, Spaces, and Movements (The New Middle Ages)
by Basil Arnould Price Jane Bonsall Meagan KhouryThis collection explores the intersection of gender and mobility across the Global Middle Ages. Medieval Mobilities questions how medieval people, texts, images, and ideas move across physiological, geographical, literary, and spiritual boundaries. In what ways do these movements afford new configurations of gender, sexuality, and being? Enacting a dialogue between medieval studies, feminist thought, and queer theory, Medieval Mobilities proposes that attending to the undulations of premodern gender and sexuality may help destabilize unstated assumptions about ways of being and loving in the Middle Ages. This volume also brings together emergent and established scholars to challenge an increasingly static academy and instead envision a scholarly practice focused on intergenerational, international, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Drawing upon wide range of primary sources and theoretical frameworks, the resultant essays unsettle the imagined fixity of gender and propose alternative conceptualizations of embodiment, identity, and difference in the medieval world.
Medieval People
by Eileen PowerIn this classic of social history, noted medieval scholar Eileen Power recreates the lives of six ordinary people who lived during the Middle Ages. Drawing upon account books, diaries, letters, records, wills, and other authentic historical documents, she brings to vivid life Bodo, a Frankish peasant in the time of Charlemagne; Marco Polo, the well-known Venetian traveler of the 13th century; Madame Eglentyne, Chaucer's prioress in real life; a Parisian housewife of the 14th century; Thomas Betson, a 15th-century English merchant; and Thomas Paycocke of Coggeshall, an Essex clothier in the days of Henry VII.Largely untouched by fame (with the exception of Marco Polo), the lives and activities of these common people offer a unique glimpse of various aspects of the medieval world — peasant life, monastic life, the wool trade, Venetian trade with the East, domestic life in a middleclass home, and more. Enlivened with charming illustrations and touches of humor, this scholarly, yet highly readable work "possesses a color, a dramatic touch that humanizes the dry bones of charters and documents." — New York Tribune.Students, teachers of history, and anyone interested in medieval life will be delighted with this spirited account that is sure to capture the imaginations of general readers as well.
Medieval Philosophy and the Classical Tradition: In Islam, Judaism and Christianity
by John InglisAn initial chapter on the history of Islamic philosophy sets the stage for sixteen articles on issues across the three traditions. The goal is to see the Islamic tradition in its own richness and complexity as the context of most Jewish intellectual work.
Medieval Religious Rationalities: A Weberian Analysis
by D. L. D'AvrayInspired by the social theories of Max Weber, David d'Avray asks in what senses medieval religion was rational and, in doing so, proposes a new approach to the study of the medieval past. Applying ideas developed in his companion volume on Rationalities in History, he explores how values, instrumental calculation, legal formality and substantive rationality interact and the ways in which medieval beliefs were strengthened by their mutual connections, by experience, and by mental images. He sheds new light on key themes and figures in medieval religion ranging from conversion, miracles and the ideas of Bernard of Clairvaux to Trinitarianism, papal government and Francis of Assisi's charismatic authority. This book shows how values and instrumental calculation affect each other in practice and demonstrates the ways in which the application of social theory can be used to generate fresh empirical research as well as new interpretative insights.
Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales
by Serge A. ZenkovskyA discussion of the literature of medieval Russia.
Medieval Rus’ and Early Modern Russia: Texts and Contexts (Routledge Studies in the History of Russia and Eastern Europe)
by Simon C. FranklinResearch on the East Slavs in the medieval period has considerably changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The emergence of new states forced a rethinking of many aspects of the history and culture of the early East Slavs as the subject became increasingly disentangled from the umbrella of Byzantine studies and fruitful collaboration was fostered between scholars worldwide. This book, which brings together scholars from Russia, Ukraine, western Europe and North America, of several generations, presents a broad overview of the main results of the last three decades of research and mutual collaboration. This is important work, providing a much-needed counterbalance to studies of western Europe in the period, which has been the main focus of study, with the lands of the East Slavs relatively neglected.
Medieval Sex Lives: The Sounds of Courtly Intimacy on the Francophone Borders
by Elizabeth Eva LeachMedieval Sex Lives examines courtly song as a complex cultural product and social force in the early fourteenth century, exploring how it illuminates the relationship between artistic production and the everyday lives of the elites for whom this music and poetry was composed and performed. In a focused analysis of the Oxford Bodelian Library's Douce 308 manuscript—a fourteenth-century compilation that includes over five hundred Old French lyrics composed over two centuries alongside a narrative account of elaborate courtly festivities centered on a week-long tournament—Elizabeth Eva Leach explores two distinct but related lines of inquiry: first, why the lyric tradition of "courtly love" had such a long and successful history in Western European culture; and, second, why the songs in the Bodleian manuscript would have been so important to the book's compilers, owners, and readers. The manuscript's lack of musical notation and authorial attributions make it unusual among Old French songbooks; its arrangement of the lyrics by genre invites inquiry into the relationship between this long musical tradition and the emotional and sexual lives of its readers. Combining an original account of the manuscript's contents and their likely social milieu with in-depth musical and poetic analyses, Leach proposes that lyrics, whether read or heard aloud, provided a fertile means of propagating and enabling various sexual scripts in the Middle Ages. Drawing on musicology, literary history, and the sociology and psychology of sexuality, Medieval Sex Lives presents a provocative hypothesis about the power of courtly songs to model, inspire, and support sexual behaviors and fantasies.