This is the most authoritative account of life in Medieval Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of the Renaissance.
Full coverage is given to all aspects of life in a thousand-year period which saw the creation of western civilization: from the empires and kingdoms of Charlemagne, the Byzantines, and the Hundred Years War, to the ideals of the crusades, the building of great cathedrals and the social catastrophe of the Black Death; the cultural worlds of chivalric knights, popular festivals, and new art forms. The chapters show the movement of the centre of gravity...

Covering a thousand years of history, this richly illustrated volume tells the story of the creation of Western civilization in Europe and the Mediterranean. Written by noted scholars and based on the latest research, it offers the most authoritative account of life in medieval Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire to the coming of the Renaissance.
Exploring a period of profound diversity and change, the contributors focus on all aspects of medieval history from the empires and kingdoms of Charlemagne and the Byzantines to the new nations which fought the Hundred Years War; from the...

The years between 1260 and 1320 saw in Tuscany the flourishing of a rich literary and artistic tradition that signalled the beginning of the Renaissance. This study places the remarkable cultural achievements of those early years in full historical perspective. Holmes describes the world of Dante and Giotto--and the circumstances in which their innovations became possible--through a thorough examination of the politics, economy, culture, and religion of early Renaissance Tuscany, explaining how each of these factors influenced the art of the period. A comprehensive and abundantly-illustrated...