Reframing the Feudal Revolution
Political and Social Transformation between Marne and Moselle, c.800–c.1100

This book revisits the idea of a 'Feudal Revolution' in Europe between 800 and 1100, examining the causes of profound socio-economic change.

Charles West (Author)

9781107028869, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 May 2013

322 pages, 3 b/w illus. 1 map
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.6 kg

'The book is a tour de force which in many ways does succeed in reframing the debate. It is exemplary in its careful attention to the words of the documents and their contexts, in the sheer variety of sources used, as well as in its concern to look at both sides of the Franco-Imperial divide. … This book is essential for anyone working on social change in western Europe in this period.' Theo Riches, Early Medieval Europe

The profound changes that took place between 800 and 1100 in the transition from Carolingian to post-Carolingian Europe have long been the subject of vigorous historical controversy. Looking beyond the notion of a 'Feudal Revolution', this book reveals that a radical shift in the patterns of social organisation did occur in this period, but as a continuation of processes unleashed by Carolingian reform, rather than Carolingian political failure. Focusing on the Frankish lands between the rivers Marne and Moselle, Charles West explores the full range of available evidence, including letters, chronicles, estate documents, archaeological excavations and liturgical treatises, to track documentary and social change. He shows how Carolingian reforms worked to formalise interaction across the entire social spectrum, and that the new political and social formations apparent from the later eleventh century should be seen as long-term consequence of this process.

Introduction
Part I. The Parameters of Carolingian Society: 1. Institutional integration
2. Networks of inequality
3. Carolingian co-ordinations
Part II. The Long Tenth Century, c.880–c.1030: 4. The ebbing of royal power
5. New hierarchies
Part III. The Exercise of Authority through Property Rights, c.1030–1130: 6. The banality of power
7. Fiefs, homage, and the 'investiture quarrel'
8. Upper Lotharingia and Champagne around 1100: unity and diversity
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]