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From the divine right of kings to the political philosophies of writers such as Machiavelli, the medieval city-states to the unification of Spain, Daniel Waley and Peter Denley focus on the growing power of the state to illuminate changing political ideas in Europe between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Spanning the entire continent and beyond, and using contemporary voices wherever possible, the authors include substantial sections on economics, religion, and art, and how developments in these areas fed into and were influenced by the transformation of political thinking. The new edition takes the narrative beyond the confines of western Europe with chapters on East Central Europe and the teutonic knights, and the Portuguese expansion across the Atlantic.
The third edition of this classic introduction to the period includes even greater use of contemporary voices, full reading lists, and new chapters on East Central Europe and Portuguese exploration. Suitable as an introductory text for undergraduate courses in Medieval Studies and Medieval European History.
List of contents
PART I - THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY: EXPANSION AND HEGEMONY 1. Government inthe Later Thirteenth Century 2. Italy and the Mediterranean in the Second Half of the Thirteenth Century 3. The Triumph of the French Monarchy PART II - THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY: CRISES AND RESTRUCTURING 4. Fragmentation in Germany. 5. Economic Setbacks and Developments in the Later Middle Ages 6. The Troubles of the Roman Church 7. French Defeats and Chivalrous Ideals: The Hundred Years War PART III - THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY: NEW DYNAMICS 8. The Early Renaissance 9. Burgundy, the Great Duchy of the West 10. The Territorial Lordships of Italy 11. The French Recovery 12. The Unification of Spain 13. German Disunity and the Origins of the Reformation PART IV - WESTERN EUROPE'S PERIPHERIES 14. The Turkish Conquest of South-Eastern Europe 15. East Central Europe 16. The Atlantic: from Exploration to Hegemony PART V - NEW PERSPECTIVES 17. Population and the Family 18. Political Writers and the Stronger State Index
About the author
Daniel Waley, Peter Denley
Summary
The third edition of this classic introduction to the period includes even greater use of contemporary voices, full reading lists, and new chapters on East Central Europe and Portuguese exploration. Suitable as an introductory text for undergraduate courses in Medieval Studies and Medieval European History.
