Summary 6th ED: A Short History of the Middle Ages - B. Rosenwein

,Contents
Chapter 1: Prelude: the Roman Empire Transformed (c. 300-c. 600)............................................. 2
Highlights:................................................................................................................................. 2
Summary:...................................................................................................................................3
Chapter 2: The Emergence of Sibling Cultures (c.600-c.750).........................................................9
Highlights:................................................................................................................................. 9
Summary:.................................................................................................................................10
Chapter 3: Creating New Identities (c.750-c.900)......................................................................... 23
Highlights:............................................................................................................................... 23
Summary:.................................................................................................................................24
Chapter 4: Political Communities Reordered (c.900-c.1050)........................................................32
Highlights:............................................................................................................................... 32
Chapter 5: New Configurations (c.1050-c.1150)...........................................................................45
Highlights.................................................................................................................................45
Summary.................................................................................................................................. 47
Chapter 6: Ambitions Realized and Thwarted (c. 1150-c. 1250).................................................. 65
Highlights.................................................................................................................................65
Summary.................................................................................................................................. 66
Chapter 7: Empires of Land and Mind (c. 1250-c. 1350)..............................................................85
Highlights.................................................................................................................................85
Summary.................................................................................................................................. 87
Chapter 8: Catastrophe and Creativity (c. 1350-c. 1500)............................................................ 100
Highlights...............................................................................................................................100




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,Chapter 1: Prelude: the Roman Empire Transformed (c. 300-c. 600)


Highlights:

- Reign of Emperor Constantine 306-337
- Promotes the Christian God; sponsors Christian churches; issues (with
co-emperor Licinius) the Edict of Milan (313); and presides over the Council of
Nicaea (325).
- Edict of Milan 313
- Declares toleration for all the religions of the Roman Empire; restores Church
property taken during the persecutions
- Council of Nicaea 325
- Declares the laws and doctrines of the Christian Church; condemns the Arian
view of Christ’s nature.
- Death of Augustine of Hippo 430
- The major Church father in the West. His City of God defines the relationship
between this world and the next; his Confessions remain a model of
self-exploration.
- Reign of Emperor Justinian 527-565
- Sponsors major legal initiatives including the Codex Justinianus and the Digest
that will be consulted and built upon for centuries; temporarily reconquers North
Africa and Italy; builds Hagia Sophia at Constantinople; supports the construction
of San Vitale at Ravenna.
- Benedictine Rule 530-560
- Written mainly for the monks of Monte Cassino, it became (9th c.) the major
monastic rule in the West.
- Pope Gregory the Great 590-604
- Asserts the power and importance of the papacy in Italy and elsewhere; send
missionaries to England to convert the kings and people to the Roman Catholic
form of Christianity.




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, Summary:

Introduction:
- The Roman Empire was not a monolith but rather a patchwork of diverse regions and
communities.
- The political, military, religious, economic and cultural leadership was passing from the
old elites of the cities to the provincials (Romans living outside of Italy).
- Emperor Diocletian (r.284-305) had divided the Empire into 4 parts, each ruled by
a different man.
- > recognition of the importance of the provinces.
- Provinces lost their centrality when barbarians moved in c.400-c.500
- Contributed to the political demise of the western half of the Roman
Empire
Provincialisation of the Empire (c.250-c.350):
- Crisis of the 3rd century
- 2 different groups from 2 different directions bore down on the frontiers of the
empire: East - Persians, north - barbarians (= not Roman citizens, not Latin- or
Greek-speaking)
- Made clear that the Roman Empire was too big to be ruled by one man,
especially when it was not peace time
- Roman response: reforms for new prominence to the provinces, expansion
of the army (consisting of Barbarians), fortifications.
- Pandemic
- Political succession crisis
- 235-284 20 different emperors
- > breakaway empires
- Reduced the quality of currency (more metal instead of silver) and higher taxes
(assessed on land and individual heads) to pay for army
- Emperor Diocletian (r.284-305): divided into 4 parts (Tetrarchy), later reduced to 2
(would later lead to east and west roman empire)
- Diocletian brought the crisis under control, Constantine brought it to an end.
A New Religion


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