Hastening toward Prague : power and society in the medieval Czech lands / Lisa Wolverton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wolverton, Lisa.

Contributor:

Wolverton, Lisa.

Series:

Middle Ages series.

The Middle Ages series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Přemyslid dynasty.

Cosmas, of Prague, 1045?-1125.

Cosmas.

Power (Social sciences)--Czech Republic--Bohemia.

Power (Social sciences).

Bohemia (Czech Republic)--Politics and government--To 1526.

Bohemia (Czech Republic).

Bohemia (Czech Republic)--Kings and rulers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (419 p.) : illustrations, map

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This is the first comprehensive study in English of Czech society and politics in the High Middle Ages. It paints a vivid portrait of a flourishing Christian community in the decades between 1050 and 1200. Bohemia's social and political landscape remained remarkably cohesive, centered on a throne in Prague, the Premyslid duke who occupied it, a society of property-owning freemen, and the ascendant Catholic church. In decades fraught with political violence, these provided a focal point for Czech identity and political order. In this, the Czechs' heavenly patron, Saint Vaclav, and the German emperor beyond their borders too had a role to play.An impressive, systematic dissection of a medieval polity, Hastening Toward Prague is based on a close rereading of written and material artifacts from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Arguing against a view that puts state or nation formation at heart, Wolverton examines interactions among dukes, emperors, freemen, and the church on their own terms, asking what powers the dukes of Bohemia possessed and how they were exercised within a broader political community. Evaluating not only the foundations and practice of ducal lordship but also the form and progress of resistance to it, she argues in particular that violence was not a sign of political instability but should be interpreted as reflecting a dynamic economy of checks and balances in a fluid, mature political system. This also reveals the values and strategies that sustained the Czech Lands as a community. The study honors the complexity and dynamism of the medieval exercise of power.

Contents:

pt. I. The structure of power

pt. II. Dynamics and strategies.

Notes:

Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Notre Dame, 1996, originally entitled: In manu sancti Wenceslai.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 386-398) and index.

Related Work:

Wolverton, Lisa. In manu sancti Wenceslai.

ISBN:

9780812204223

0812204220

9781283898867

1283898861

9780585436357

0585436355

OCLC:

51478995