Social inequality in early medieval Europe : local societies and beyond / edited by Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Quirós Castillo, Juan Antonio, editor.

Series:

Collection Haut Moyen Âge ; 39.

Collection Haut Moyen Âge ; 39

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civilization, Medieval.

Equality--Europe--History--To 1500.

Equality.

History.

Europe.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

360 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols, [2020]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Equal and Unequal Societies in Early Medieval Europe. An Introduction p. 11 / Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo

1 State Formation and Socio-Political Complexity

Towards an Archaeology of State Formation in North-Western Iberia p. 33 / Julio Escalona

Maize, Mounds, and Cosmos. Durable Inequality in the Mississippian World (AD 1000-1250) p. 55 / Robin A. Beck

2 Economic Specialization, Elite Demand and Social Inequality

Pottery as Inequality? Systems of Production and Distribution in North Italian Societies During the Early Middle Ages p. 75 / Sauro Gelichi

Social Complexity in Peripheral Areas in the Light of Pottery Production Between Sixth and Tenth Centuries (Alava, Basque Country, Spain) p. 99 / Francesca Grassi

Indications of an Estate Economy from a Renewed Analysis of Sites of Rural Settlements p. 131 / Edith Peytremann

Social Complexity in Local Communities During the Tenth Century in Central-Northern Portugal. Negotiation and Opposition p. 149 / Catarina Tente

The Primitivism of the Early Medieval Peasant in Italy? p. 165 / Richard Hodges

3 'Small World' and Social Inequalities

Land, Oxen, and Brooches. Local Societies, Inequality, and Large Estates in the Early Medieval Ardennes (c. 850-c. 900) p. 177 / Jean-Pierre Devroey and Nicolas Schroeder

Fiscal Lands, Rural Communities and the Abbey of Nonantola. Social Inequality in Ninth-Century Emilia (Italy) p. 203 / Igor Santos Salazar

Rural Communities and Landscapes in Northern Italy (Ninth-Twelfth Centuries AD) p. 227 / Fabio Saggioro

Unequal Small Worlds. Social Dynamics in Tenth-Century Leonese Villages p. 255 / Iñaki Martín Viso

Collective Action and Local Leaderships in Early Medieval North-Western Iberia. Ninth-Eleventh Centuries p. 281 / Álvaro Carvajal Castro

Village Formation, Social Memories and the Archaeology of Rural Communities in North-Western Iberia p. 301 / Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo

The Archaeology of the Peasant Mode of Production. Peasant-Based Societies in Central and Northern Iberia During the Early Middle Ages p. 331 / Carlos Tejerizo-García.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

E-book version

ISBN:

9782503585659

2503585655

OCLC:

1127965805

Publisher Number:

99984967324