Assembled in honour of John H. A. Munro (University of Toronto), the volume groups nineteen original studies by a diversified panel of scholars. The essays explore late medieval market mechanisms and associated institutional, fiscal and monetary, organizational, decision-making, legal and ethical issues, as well as various aspects of production, consumption and market integration. The geographical scope stretches from North-Western and Central Europe to North and West Africa, and the individual contributions deal with a variety of local, regional, and long-distance markets and networks.
Witch-hunts were by no means focused only on women -- one in four alleged witches in Central Europe was male. This study traces the witch trials of men in French and German speaking regions in Central Europe, opening up a little known chapter of early modern times. The author analyzes the proportion of accused men in the witch-hunts, describes their trials and explores the conflicts from which witch-hunts involving men evolved.
Silver, Trade and War - Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe
The 250 years covered by Silver, Trade, and War marked the era of commercial capitalism, that bridge between late medieval and modern times. Spain, peripheral to western Europe in 1500, produced American treasure in silver, which Spanish convoys bore from Portobelo and Veracruz on the Carribbean coast across the Atlantic to Spain in exchange for European goods shipped from Sevilla (later, Cadiz). Spanish colonialism, the authors suggest, was the cutting edge of the early global economy.
Franks, Northmen and Slavs - Identities and State Formation in Early Medieval Europe
In recent decades, historians attempting to understand the transition from the world of late antiquity with its unitary imperial system to the medieval Europe of separate kingdoms have become increasingly concerned with the role of early medieval gentes, or peoples, in the end of the former and the constitution of the latter. Eleven specialists examine here the role of ethnic identity in the formation of medieval polities on the periphery of the Frankish world in the eighth through eleventh centuries.
Saracen Strongholds 1100 - 1500 - The Central and Eastern Islamic Lands
By the time of the Crusades, the Islamic world had already developed its own sophisticated styles of fortification. Distinctive and highly effective, the region's unique military architecture continued to evolve in response to the Crusader and Mongol threats, and also drew upon the traditions of their foes and neighbours. The resulting Islamic concepts of military architecture had an influence upon fortifications in Western Europe, including Italy and the Iberian Peninsula. However, Islamic fortifications continued to focus upon the defence of cities and frontiers rather than providing security for feudal aristocracies, as was increasingly the case in Europe.
