What do you think?
Rate this book
Oxford Studies in Medieval European History
Medieval Rome: Stability and Crisis of a City, 900-1150
Medieval Rome analyses the history of the city of Rome between 900 and 1150, a period of major change in the city. This volume doesn't merely seek to tell the story of the city from the traditional Church standpoint; instead, it engages in studies of the city's processions, material culture, legal transformations, and sense of the past, seeking to unravel the complexities of Roman cultural identity, including its urban economy, social history as seen across the different strata of society, and the articulation between the city's regions.
This new approach serves to underpin a major reinterpretation of Rome's political history in the era of the "reform papacy," one of the greatest crises in Rome's history, which had a resonance across the entire continent. Medieval Rome is the most systematic analysis ever made of two and a half centuries of Rome's history, one which saw centuries of stability undermined by external crisis and the long period of reconstruction which followed.
This new approach serves to underpin a major reinterpretation of Rome's political history in the era of the "reform papacy," one of the greatest crises in Rome's history, which had a resonance across the entire continent. Medieval Rome is the most systematic analysis ever made of two and a half centuries of Rome's history, one which saw centuries of stability undermined by external crisis and the long period of reconstruction which followed.
530 pages, Hardcover
First published October 23, 2013
11 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Chris Wickham
36 books198 followers"Chris Wickham is Chichele Professor of Medieval History, and Faculty Board Chair 2009-12.
I have been at Oxford since 2005. Previously, I was Lecturer (1977), Senior Lecturer (1987), Reader (1988), and from 1995 Professor of Early Medieval History, University of Birmingham; and I was an undergraduate and postgraduate at Keble College, Oxford, from 1968 to 1975.
I am a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and a socio of the Accademia dei Lincei."
I have been at Oxford since 2005. Previously, I was Lecturer (1977), Senior Lecturer (1987), Reader (1988), and from 1995 Professor of Early Medieval History, University of Birmingham; and I was an undergraduate and postgraduate at Keble College, Oxford, from 1968 to 1975.
I am a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and a socio of the Accademia dei Lincei."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 11, 2019
This is a wonderful and brilliant book. It's one of the most impressive pieces of history that I've read.
Chris Wickham traces the history of Rome from 950-1150, a period roughly in line with the end of Carolingian influence in the city until the conclusion of a lengthy "crisis" period (c. 1050-1150) that ended with the re-establishment of papal authority under Innocent II and a newly-formed Roman Senate.
The book is wonderfully rooted in a sense of place. Local histories often get a bad rap - that they're antiquarian, or myopic - but it's honestly just what you need when studying a place like Rome, wrapped up in all sorts of obfuscating myths. Wickham dives head first into the economics and social meaning of land ownership (in Rome essentially monopolized by the local churches), the varying positions of the aristocracy, the varying personalities of different neighborhoods. He details the wide swath of land around the city - the Agro Romano - the narrower vineyard belt closer to the Aurelian Walls, the Porto salt pans and the more distantly scattered castles. He tells you how Trastevere was the Brooklyn of medieval Rome, filled with potters and ironmakers, how Pigna was a vibrant & growing artisanal community, how the Tiber was filled with floating mills. He tells you how the individual neighborhoods were tied together with massive processional movements filled with lanterns and homemade archways, how Roman law made its way back into common practice (only to be rejected outright by, of all things, the medieval Roman Senate), and how the remnants of ancient Rome functioned as a "toy box" for various groups to pick up and use the symbols they saw to be most fit.
It's a wonderful book, honestly, and makes medieval Rome feel like such a real and tangible place. The early chapters will be tough going for non-academics - there's a whole lot of legal details of land ownership - but they lay the groundwork for everything that comes after, so I'd recommend reading them if you're up for it. If not, though, the last two chapters in here are wonderful for everyone. They discuss the use of processions, Roman law, and antiquity in the city and then deal with the developments of the "crisis century" that led to the re-articulation of the papacy under Innocent II and the founding of the commune.
Chris Wickham traces the history of Rome from 950-1150, a period roughly in line with the end of Carolingian influence in the city until the conclusion of a lengthy "crisis" period (c. 1050-1150) that ended with the re-establishment of papal authority under Innocent II and a newly-formed Roman Senate.
The book is wonderfully rooted in a sense of place. Local histories often get a bad rap - that they're antiquarian, or myopic - but it's honestly just what you need when studying a place like Rome, wrapped up in all sorts of obfuscating myths. Wickham dives head first into the economics and social meaning of land ownership (in Rome essentially monopolized by the local churches), the varying positions of the aristocracy, the varying personalities of different neighborhoods. He details the wide swath of land around the city - the Agro Romano - the narrower vineyard belt closer to the Aurelian Walls, the Porto salt pans and the more distantly scattered castles. He tells you how Trastevere was the Brooklyn of medieval Rome, filled with potters and ironmakers, how Pigna was a vibrant & growing artisanal community, how the Tiber was filled with floating mills. He tells you how the individual neighborhoods were tied together with massive processional movements filled with lanterns and homemade archways, how Roman law made its way back into common practice (only to be rejected outright by, of all things, the medieval Roman Senate), and how the remnants of ancient Rome functioned as a "toy box" for various groups to pick up and use the symbols they saw to be most fit.
It's a wonderful book, honestly, and makes medieval Rome feel like such a real and tangible place. The early chapters will be tough going for non-academics - there's a whole lot of legal details of land ownership - but they lay the groundwork for everything that comes after, so I'd recommend reading them if you're up for it. If not, though, the last two chapters in here are wonderful for everyone. They discuss the use of processions, Roman law, and antiquity in the city and then deal with the developments of the "crisis century" that led to the re-articulation of the papacy under Innocent II and the founding of the commune.
August 11, 2016
A very well executed study of an intriguing city at an intriguing time - and where the sources are quite demanding of anyone who tries to make use of them (and Wickham makes very good use of them). There are a lot of details, that can be a bit overwhelming, but the author is quite aware of that, and also (convincingly) explains why he has chosen to include them in this history.
I am very happy that I picked this one up!
I am very happy that I picked this one up!
November 19, 2020
People can learn so much from this book. Not from the uninteresting contents, but from context: how one can be an average mind ready to avoid honest work and live a good life as long as one can offer some sort of gratification to the bureaucrats that give from the tax money for their nephews and nieces. Find a place there and Humanity will have to support your relevant research into the mating dance of the pink panda in the Saharas. And let other bureaucrats spend even more money to prove there is no pink panda.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews