Efnisyfirlit

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of maps
• Preface
• Companion website resources
• Part I Introduction
• 1 Why study this period?
• Formative character
• Challenges to study
• This book’s aims
• Questions, models, and experiments
• Part II Empires and peoples
• Introduction
• 2 From Roman Empire to barbarian kingdoms: cataclysm or transition?
• The First Doom and Gloom Model
• The Second Doom and Gloom Model
• The Deliberate Roman Policy Model
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 3 The dismemberment and survival of the Byzantine Empire
• The First Doom and Gloom Model
• The Second Doom and Gloom Model
• The Deliberate Byzantine Policy Model
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 4 The Arab conquests
• Approach 1: Accepting the validity of the written sources
• Approach 2: Being sceptical of the sources
• Approach 3: Reading back from the heyday of the Umayyad and ‘Abbasid caliphates
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 5 The making of peoples
• The Biological Model
• The Constitutional Model
• Why did peoples form?
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• Conclusion
• Timeline: Part II
• Part III Power and society
• Introduction
• 6 Pagan, Roman, and Christian beliefs about rulers: ideological power
• Paganism and rulership
• Roman ideology and kingship
• Christianity and rulership
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 7 Edicts, taxes, and armies: bureaucratic power
• Written documents
• Oral communication, symbolism, and ritual
• Government departments and staff
• Capabilities of governments
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 8 Kings, warriors, and women: personal power
• War-bands
• Feasting, drinking, and the hall
• The social pyramid
• Aristocratic elites
• The role of women
• Nearness to the king
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• Conclusion
• Timeline: Part III
• Part IV The economic foundation
• Introduction
• 9 Trade as a driving force?
• Pirenne and his critics
• The nature of the Roman and Byzantine economies
• The economic influence of the Arab caliphate
• Decline and revival of trade?
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 10 Cultivating the land: the basis of European society?
• The continuity of Roman agriculture
• An agricultural revolution?
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 11 Towns and cities: the functions of urban life
• The fate of Roman cities
• Functions of cities and towns
• Growth of cities and towns
• New towns
• Cities and towns as tools of power
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• Conclusion
• Timeline: Part IV
• Part V The Church’s triumph
• Introduction
• 12 Conversion to Christianity
• The Roman Empire
• The barbarians within the Roman Empire
• Conversion outside the former Roman Empire
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 13 The success of monasticism
• ‘Bottom-up’ model
• ‘Top-down’ model
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• 14 The power of bishops and popes
• Bishops and popes in the Church hierarchy
• The resources of popes and bishops
• Bishops and popes in the world
• Companion website resources
• Research and study
• Conclusion
• Timeline: Part V
• General Conclusion
• Sources
• References
• Image credits
• Index