For almost two hundred years, from 1095, the Crusades raged on and off dramatically ending with the fall of Acre in 1291, leaving us with some of the most striking images of the Middle Ages. This was the period that saw the birth and dominance of the Knights Templar, The Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights and also gave rise to such legendary figures as Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.
Agrarian Change in Late Antiquity - Gold, Labour and Aristrocratic Dominance
The economy of the late antique Mediterranean is still largely seen through the prism of Weber's influential essay of 1896. Rejecting that orthodoxy, Jairus Banaji argues that the late empire saw substantial economic and social change, propelled by the powerful stimulus of a stable gold coinage that circulated widely. In successive chapters Banaji adduces fresh evidence for the prosperity of the late Roman countryside, the expanding circulation of gold, the restructuring of agrarian elites, and the extensive use of paid labour, above all in the period spanning the fifth to seventh centuries.
A visual feast of 400 dazzling images, this is a comprehensive survey of the genre over the last century. The book also offers an overview of the development of fashion, as seen through the eyes of the greatest illustrators of the day. Early in the century fashion illustration reflected new, liberating currents in art and culture while the postwar period saw inspiration from the great Parisian couturiers. After the dominance of the celebrity fashion photographer in the '60s, a new generation of illustrators emerged, embracing the medium of the computer, while many returned to more traditional techniques.
