ENGLISH

The Crisis of the Twelfth Century: Power, Lordship, and the Origins of European Government

By Thomas N. Bisson

Book information

Publisher
Princeton University Press
Year
2015
ISBN
9781400874316
DOI
10.1515/9781400874316
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
8 MB (8707534 bytes)
Pages
720\716
Library
degruyter.com
Time added
2023-08-23 23:22:32

Description

Medieval civilization came of age in thunderous events like the Norman Conquest and the First Crusade. Power fell into the hands of men who imposed coercive new lordships in quest of nobility. Rethinking a familiar history, Thomas Bisson explores the circumstances that impelled knights, emperors, nobles, and churchmen to infuse lordship with social purpose. Bisson traces the origins of European government to a crisis of lordship and its resolution. King John of England was only the latest and most conspicuous in a gallery of bad lords who dominated the populace instead of ruling it. Yet, it was not so much the oppressed people as their tormentors who were in crisis. The Crisis of the Twelfth Century suggests what these violent people—and the outcries they provoked—contributed to the making of governments in kingdoms, principalities, and towns.

Similar books