HIST 190-2: Sex and Violence in the Middle Ages

This companion introduces the connections between early medieval societies that have previously been studied in isolation. By bringing together nineteen experts on different regions across the globe, from Oceania to Europe and beyond, it transcends conventional disciplinary boundaries and synthesizes parallel historiographical narratives. The period 600-900 CE witnessed important historical developments, such as the establishment of a Southeast Asian thalassocracy by the Shailendra dynasty and the expansion of the Frankish polity under Charlemagne on the far ends of Eurasia and the consolidation of the Abbasid and Tang empires in between. A Companion to the Global Early Middle Ages integrates these contemporaneous processes and presents new insights into a neglected phase of world history.

Drawing on the expertise of 26 distinguished scholars, this important volume covers the major issues in the study of medieval Europe, highlighting the significant impact the time period had on cultural forms and institutions central to European identity.

Aside from a few famous queens, warriors and religious leaders, little information is available about the many extraordinary women of the medieval and Renaissance world. This resource brings together engagingly written biographical profiles of 70 women, most of whom are unsung, but all of whom are remarkable for their courage, initiative, and accomplishments in a world where the conventional wisdom was for women to be chaste, silent, and obedient. The women profiled here represent 18 countries and excelled in 19 fields of endeavor.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages is a major new reference resource for all key aspects of European history, society, religion, and culture from 500 to 1500. Since neighbouring areas of Asia and North Africa impinged on and helped shape the civilization of the West, relevant aspects ofthe Byzantine Empire, the Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples such as the Avars and the Mongols are included. It is designed both for medievalists, who need a detailed and reliable reference tool for their own research and teaching, and for non-specialists, who need an accessible guide to thestudy of the Middle Ages. All entries are written with both audiences in mind. Over 800 scholars, guided by an international advisory board of five and an international editorial board of 26, have written the over 5,000 entries, and these entries have been lavishly supplemented by more than 500 illustrations and 50 maps.

From the Viking invasions to the Crusades to the Hundred Years War, wars were crucial agents of change in medieval Europe. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology examines all aspects of warfare and military technology in medieval times. Approximately 1,000 articles signed by the leading experts in medieval military history provide an exhaustive and accurate view of how and why wars were waged throughout Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Crusader States between 500 C.E. to 1500.

Beginning in 500 with the fusion of classical, Christian, and Germanic cultures and ending in 1300 with a Europe united by a desire for growth, knowledge, and change, this volume provides basic information on the significant cultural figures of the Middle Ages. It includes over 400 people whose contributions in literature, religion, philosophy, education, or politics influenced the development and culture of the Medieval world.

From women's medicine and the writings of Christine de Pizan to the lives of market and tradeswomen and the idealization of virginity, gender and social status dictated all aspects of women's lives during the middle ages. A cross-disciplinary resource, Women and Gender in Medieval Europe examines the daily reality of medieval women from all walks of life in Europe between 450 CE and 1500 CE, i.e., from the fall of the Roman Empire to the discovery of the Americas.