Italy in the Central Middle Ages 1000-1300

Incorporating the latest developments in the study of the period, a team of leading international scholars provides a fresh and dynamic picture of a period of great transformation in the political, cultural, and economic life of the Italian peninsula, which witnessed the rise of autonomous city states in the north, the creation of a powerful kingdom in the south, and the development of the Italian language as a vehicle for literary expression.

David Abulafia is Professor of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College. He has published widely on the history of the Mediterranean from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

General Editor's Preface

v

Acknowledgements

vii

List of contributors

xiii

Introduction: The many Italies of the Middle Ages

1

(26)

David Abulafia

PART I RULERS AND SUBJECTS

1 Cities and communes

27

(31)

Edward Coleman

Introduction

27

(2)

Origins of the communes

29

(6)

Civic institutions, office-holding, and law

35

(7)

Warfare and city leagues

42

(6)

Urban elites and factionalism

48

(8)

Conclusion

56

(2)

2 Law and monarchy in the south

58

(24)

Hiroshi Takayama

Norman unification

59

(3)

The Norman kingdom of Sicily

62

(1)

The kingdom as a political entity

63

(1)

Kingship and the royal court

64

(2)

Norman administration

66

(2)

The kings' ambitions and diplomacy

68

(1)

Transition

69

(1)

Frederick II

70

(1)

Restoration of royal authority

71

(1)

The Norman inheritance

72

(1)

A changed kingdom

73

(2)

The dismemberment of Frederick II's dominion

75

(1)

Charles of Anjou and the two kingdoms

76

(3)

The Sicilian Vespers and arrival of the king of Aragon

79

(1)

The two kingdoms of Sicily and Naples

80

(2)

3 Papal Italy

82

(22)

Brenda Bolton

Introduction

82

(4)

The pope and the emperors

86

(3)

The papal recovery

89

(2)

Institutions

91

(2)

North and south

93

(2)

Papal itineration

95

(3)

Development and support for the faith

98

(2)

Defending the faith: heresy

100

(2)

The Jubilee

102

(1)

Conclusion

102

(2)

4 The rise of the signori

104

(23)

Trevor Dean

Piacenza

109

(2)

Verona

111

(3)

Milan

114

(5)

Ferrara

119

(2)

Some common themes

121

(6)

PART II SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION

5 Trade and navigation

127

(20)

Marco Tangheroni

Italian maritime expansion in the western Mediterranean

127

(4)

Italian maritime expansion in the eastern Mediterranean

131

(3)

Italian cities and the Mediterranean, 1200-1350

134

(6)

Technical and institutional aspects of Italian maritime commerce

140

(4)

Maritime commerce and the Italian economy

144

(3)

6 Material life

147

(14)

Patricia Skinner

Buildings and living conditions

148

(2)

Personal possessions: the domestic life

150

(4)

Tools and equipment

154

(1)

Food and ephemera

155

(2)

Luxury items

157

(2)

Conclusions

159

(2)

7 Rural Italy

161

(22)

Duane Osheim

The rural landscape: castelli and lords

161

(6)

Parallel developments in southern Italy

167

(1)

The rural communes

168

(8)

The rural economy

176

(6)

Conclusion

182

(1)

8 The family

183

(14)

Steven Epstein

General themes

184

(3)

Wives, husbands, and children

187

(3)

The role of government

190

(2)

Names

192

(2)

Stories of family life

194

(3)

9 Language and culture

197

Alberto Varvaro

Language in Italy c.1000

197

(2)

Linguistic change up to 1300

199

(2)

Cultural centres, schools, and libraries

201

(3)

The first documents in the vernacular and para-literary traditions

204

(3)

The establishment of literary traditions

207

(8)

PART III THE OTHER FACES OF ITALY

10 The Italian other: Greeks, Muslims, and Jews

215

(22)

David Abulafia

The Greeks

217

(1)

The Muslims

222

(1)

The Jews

228

(1)

Conclusion

236

(1)

11 Sardinia and Italy

237

(14)

Marco Tangheroni

The papacy and Sardinia: political and ecclesiastical intervention

238

(1)

The political penetration of Pisa and Genoa in the eleventh and twelfth centuries

241

(1)

Judicial dynasties and mainland lords

243

(1)

The end of the judicatures and Pisan Sardinia

244

(1)

Pisan and Genoese economic activity in Sardinia: modes and consequences

245

(1)

The Catalan-Aragonese conquest and the end of Pisan Sardinia

248

(3)

Conclusion

251

(4)

David Abulafia

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Italy in the Central Middle Ages 1000-1300

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

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