"Early medieval Europe has, over and over, been misunderstood." With these words, Chris Wickham begins his book The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000. The Professor of Medieval History at University of Oxford is here offering his views on how Europe itself changed with the break-up of the Roman Empire, and the emergence of kings and kingdoms in western Europe and empires in the East.
For more information, go to [ Ссылка ]
Professor Wickham sees two major problems with the way historians have portrayed the early Middle Ages -- the first is that many books have claimed this period saw the emergence of national identities and an overall European one too -- that if you searched hard enough you could find the beginning of France, Spain or Belgium. Wickham calls this "bad history" which is the result of the people seeing signs of evidence where none really exist.
The other problem he notes is the one where historians have traditionally seen the early Middle Ages as a kind of "storyline of failure" - the result of the collapse the Western Roman Empire, where Europe needed hundreds of years to recover. Wickham writes that he finds this to be ridiculous and notes that "every period in history has its own identity and legitimacy, which must be seen without hindsight."
Wickham finds that these two historical notions are now fading, as more medievalists start working on the early Middle Ages and cover a wider range of its history. So he sets out to write a history of this time, trying to make sure he is not comparing periods or places. His book is divided into four parts: The Roman Empire and its Break-up, 400-550; The Post-Roman West, 550-750, The Empires of the East, 550-1000; and The Carolingian and Post-Carolingian West, 750-1000. Wickham covers various topics, including the changing political fortunes and the economic development that took place during this period.
For a book that is supposed to deal with the history of Europe, Wickham pays much attention to the Middle East. This is because of the rise of Islam, the influence of Roman ideals on its society and government, and how Muslims played an important role throughout the Mediterranean.
Wickham said he wrote this book "to be comprehensible to people who know nothing about the period," but this work is so rich in detail and analysis that even specialists in this field will want to have a copy. For many this will be a great starting point for understanding the Early Middle Ages, where they will find a fascinating story of many different places and peoples.
