Social Inequality in Early Medieval Europe
Local Societies and Beyond
Edited by J. A. Quiros Castillo Edited by Juan Antonio Quiros Castillo
The goal of this book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social and political inequality of local societies in Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages. Traditional approaches have defined rural communities as passive bodies, poor and unstable in the framework of a self-sufficient economy. In the last few decades the crisis on social approaches both in medieval history and archaeology have missed the opportunity to re-evaluate the role of peasantry and other subaltern groups, even if new written ad material evidences have eroded the traditional assumptions. Conversely, scholars focused on elites and aristocracies have promoted very powerful agendas and projects. As a consequence of the 2007-2008 recession, Social Sciences have begun to be interested in social and economic inequality, opening new avenues for a reassessment of social history. The Early Medieval period has been identified by different scholars as a key term for the analysis of political complexity and social inequality in a long-term perspective. The study of local societies has become one of the most fruitful arenas to innovate medieval archaeology and history, using approaches related to the microhistory. This book, dedicated to Chris Wickham, is formed by fourteen papers centred on the study, from both written and material records, of early medieval local communities, which tend to propose a complex framework of social inequality in the local scale.
The goal of this book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social and political inequality of local societies in Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages. Traditional approaches have defined rural communities as passive bodies, poor and unstable in the framework of a self-sufficient economy. In the last few decades the crisis on social approaches both in medieval history and archaeology have missed the opportunity to re-evaluate the role of peasantry and other subaltern groups, even if new written ad material evidences have eroded the traditional assumptions. Conversely, scholars focused on elites and aristocracies have promoted very powerful agendas and projects. As a consequence of the 2007-2008 recession, Social Sciences have begun to be interested in social and economic inequality, opening new avenues for a reassessment of social history. The Early Medieval period has been identified by different scholars as a key term for the analysis of political complexity and social inequality in a long-term perspective. The study of local societies has become one of the most fruitful arenas to innovate medieval archaeology and history, using approaches related to the microhistory. This book, dedicated to Chris Wickham, is formed by fourteen papers centred on the study, from both written and material records, of early medieval local communities, which tend to propose a complex framework of social inequality in the local scale.
- Edited by J. A. Quiros Castillo
- Edited by Juan Antonio Quiros Castillo
Other Titles in this Series
La controverse carolingienne sur la predestination
Histoire, textes, manuscrits. Actes du colloque international de Paris des 11 et 12 octobre 2013
Volume 32
Charlemagne : les temps, les espaces, les hommes
Construction et deconstruction d'un regne
Volume 34
Monasteres, convergences, echanges et confrontations dans l’Ouest de l’Europe au Moyen Age
Actes du Colloque Anciennes Abbayes de Bretagne, Universite de Toronto 5-6 mai, 2016
Volume 45
New Directions in Early Medieval European Archaeology
Spain and Italy compared: Essays for Riccardo Francovich
Volume 24
Du Champ de Mars merovingien au Champ de Mai carolingien
Eclairages sur un objet fugace et une reforme de Pepin, dit le Bref
Volume 41
Le virus de l’erreur. La controverse carolingienne sur la double predestination
Essai d'histoire sociale
Volume 26
Genese des espaces politiques (IXe-XIIe siecle)
Autour de la question spatiale dans les royaumes francs et post-carolingiens
Volume 28
Sacred Places
Devotional Practices and Space Organization in Early Medieval Monasteries (5th-10th centuries)
Volume 52
Donner sens au nom de personne dans le royaume anglo-saxon (Xe-XIe siecles)
Essai d'histoire sociale
Volume 35
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