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Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800
The Roman empire tends to be seen as a whole whereas the early middle ages tends to be seen as a collection of regional histories, roughly corresponding to the land-areas of modern nation states. As a result, early medieval history is much more fragmented, and there have been few convincing syntheses of socio-economic change in the post-Roman world since the 1930s. In recent decades, the rise of early medieval archaeology has also transformed our source-base, but this has not been adequately integrated into analyses of documentary history in almost any country.
In Framing the Early Middle Ages Chris Wickham aims at integrating documentary and archaeological evidence together, and also, above all, at creating a comparative history of the period 400-800, by means of systematic comparative analyses of each of the regions of the latest Roman and immediately post-Roman world, from Denmark to Egypt (only the Slav areas are left out). The book concentrates on classic socio-economic themes, state finance, the wealth and identity of the aristocracy, estate management, peasant society, rural settlement, cities, and exchange. These are only a partial picture of the period, but they are intended as a framing for other developments, without which those other developments cannot be properly understood.
Wickham argues that only a complex comparative analysis can act as the basis for a wider synthesis. Whilst earlier syntheses have taken the development of a single region as 'typical', with divergent developments presented as exceptions, this book takes all different developments as typical, and aims to construct a synthesis based on a better understanding of difference and the reasons for it. This is the most ambitious and original survey of the period ever written.
In Framing the Early Middle Ages Chris Wickham aims at integrating documentary and archaeological evidence together, and also, above all, at creating a comparative history of the period 400-800, by means of systematic comparative analyses of each of the regions of the latest Roman and immediately post-Roman world, from Denmark to Egypt (only the Slav areas are left out). The book concentrates on classic socio-economic themes, state finance, the wealth and identity of the aristocracy, estate management, peasant society, rural settlement, cities, and exchange. These are only a partial picture of the period, but they are intended as a framing for other developments, without which those other developments cannot be properly understood.
Wickham argues that only a complex comparative analysis can act as the basis for a wider synthesis. Whilst earlier syntheses have taken the development of a single region as 'typical', with divergent developments presented as exceptions, this book takes all different developments as typical, and aims to construct a synthesis based on a better understanding of difference and the reasons for it. This is the most ambitious and original survey of the period ever written.
1024 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2005
49 people are currently reading
2281 people want to read
About the author
Chris Wickham
35 books203 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."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 22, 2020
Academic but extremely thorough, Wickham's book gives a fascinating picture of the economy and society of Europe in the early Middle Ages.
September 10, 2011
This book is a huge accomplishment and a genuinely impressive work of scholarship. It's quite dense to read at points (though Wickham does admirably in making what could be a chore rather engaging), but Wickham's sturdy and methodical scholarship are really pretty wonderful and he does a great job in painting the former Roman Empire (plus Denmark and Ireland) from 400-800 as taxation systems simplified (or disappeared), aristocracies markedly decreased in their wealth (and consequently their buying power, generating a localization of systems of exchange) and militarized in their culture, and peasants often became increasingly autonomous. For Wickham, the world didn't end with the fall of Rome but it did change in substantial ways.
One possible caveat to this book is one that Wickham openly acknowledges: it's an economic history through and through, and potential cultural developments aren't generally addressed. Considering the importance of the spread of the Church through this period it's a tough omission. But a book can't include everything, and it's not particularly fair of me to criticize what the author consciously chose not to address in this work. It's just that he did a very good job on all the rest, and it would be interesting to see in what ways (if any) cultural and ecclesiastical change affect Wickham's argument.
One possible caveat to this book is one that Wickham openly acknowledges: it's an economic history through and through, and potential cultural developments aren't generally addressed. Considering the importance of the spread of the Church through this period it's a tough omission. But a book can't include everything, and it's not particularly fair of me to criticize what the author consciously chose not to address in this work. It's just that he did a very good job on all the rest, and it would be interesting to see in what ways (if any) cultural and ecclesiastical change affect Wickham's argument.
April 30, 2012
(Revised 4/29/12)
After having read The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000 by Chris Wickham, that is now my number one referral for people who want an introduction. THIS book is for people who want to know more detail. Publication of books for the general public about the transition from the Roman world to the European world (from about 400AD to about 800AD, aka Late Antiquity, Early Medieval, Dark Ages) has been growing rapidly, reflecting a huge development over the past 30 years.
Chris Wickham's thesis is that this period is characterized by increasing regionalism and loss of an overall unifying political, cultural and social structure. He says that earlier European histories tended to start with one region (particularly Northern France) and generalize from there. This work looks at a number of regions, then after that tries to see what, if any, patterns there are. This is a social and cultural study, not a political one, so higher level politics are not analyzed. He is one of the members of the "Fall of Rome was not so cataclysmic" school, in that he notices the long-term consistencies more than the changes. He believes that many of the regional differences were already there under Roman rule, just submerged under the empire wide consistencies. He also includes Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, and North Africa (another change from 30 years ago).
This work is focused on regions and there is very little mention of the 'barbarian migrations' mainly because in most places the effect of these was temporary and mostly at the highest political level. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph & Diversity 200-1000 by Peter Robert Lamont Brown is a great companion book that covers this time. This is big picture, Cultural with a capital C, and religious history. Also try Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376 - 568 by Guy Halsall for migration history. These are all upper undergraduate, early graduate level reading. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians by Peter Heather takes the more cataclysmic view and is a lot easier to read. Of course there's always the classic The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon. It is still influencing people today.
After having read The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000 by Chris Wickham, that is now my number one referral for people who want an introduction. THIS book is for people who want to know more detail. Publication of books for the general public about the transition from the Roman world to the European world (from about 400AD to about 800AD, aka Late Antiquity, Early Medieval, Dark Ages) has been growing rapidly, reflecting a huge development over the past 30 years.
Chris Wickham's thesis is that this period is characterized by increasing regionalism and loss of an overall unifying political, cultural and social structure. He says that earlier European histories tended to start with one region (particularly Northern France) and generalize from there. This work looks at a number of regions, then after that tries to see what, if any, patterns there are. This is a social and cultural study, not a political one, so higher level politics are not analyzed. He is one of the members of the "Fall of Rome was not so cataclysmic" school, in that he notices the long-term consistencies more than the changes. He believes that many of the regional differences were already there under Roman rule, just submerged under the empire wide consistencies. He also includes Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, and North Africa (another change from 30 years ago).
This work is focused on regions and there is very little mention of the 'barbarian migrations' mainly because in most places the effect of these was temporary and mostly at the highest political level. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph & Diversity 200-1000 by Peter Robert Lamont Brown is a great companion book that covers this time. This is big picture, Cultural with a capital C, and religious history. Also try Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376 - 568 by Guy Halsall for migration history. These are all upper undergraduate, early graduate level reading. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians by Peter Heather takes the more cataclysmic view and is a lot easier to read. Of course there's always the classic The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon. It is still influencing people today.
October 12, 2013
This was more of a project than a book. It's massive and detailed, not for a general reader (see Wickham's The Inheritance of Rome for that). It's also hard to know how to rate, but I am giving it 5 stars for usefulness, clarity and for accomplishing the author's stated goals. With its broad focus, this would be an excellent book for someone looking for thesis topics or a research area. The early Middle Ages really cries out for more study and excavation.
Wickham wants to provide a synthesis of documentary and archaeological evidence across the disciplines of social, economic, legal and military history, for the post-Roman world. He states that this seems to be lacking for the early Middle Ages compared to the periods before and after it. His geographic scope is from Syria and Palestine in the East to Spain and Ireland in the West, from Egypt as a southern pole to Denmark and very brief mentions of Norway. The time frame is 400-800 A.D. The book has a heavy emphasis on material culture, economics and social hierarchies, less on cultural or military history. The book gives detailed description, which will be too detailed for many readers, and more subtle is any kind of argument or narrative, though Wickham does make one of those, mainly that this period needs to be looked at in terms of local detail rather than broad brushes, which have too often led to oversimplification, catastrophe narrative (the whole "Dark Ages" bugbear) and teleological approaches (what's important is what's important to Us).
Most interesting to me were the chapters on peasant organization, especially in Wales and the Germanic regions and in Egypt, and somewhat the chapter on exchange systems. Anything you find interesting here, though, will suffer from being treated only briefly. The book has most usefully served me as a bibliography of works to read next, to go more in depth on topics that Wickham just brushed. I've got quite a list. That in itself is not a criticism, though, because it's what the book set out to provide- a frame, some basic structure for further work. That's a goal I think Wickham accomplishes very well.
Wickham wants to provide a synthesis of documentary and archaeological evidence across the disciplines of social, economic, legal and military history, for the post-Roman world. He states that this seems to be lacking for the early Middle Ages compared to the periods before and after it. His geographic scope is from Syria and Palestine in the East to Spain and Ireland in the West, from Egypt as a southern pole to Denmark and very brief mentions of Norway. The time frame is 400-800 A.D. The book has a heavy emphasis on material culture, economics and social hierarchies, less on cultural or military history. The book gives detailed description, which will be too detailed for many readers, and more subtle is any kind of argument or narrative, though Wickham does make one of those, mainly that this period needs to be looked at in terms of local detail rather than broad brushes, which have too often led to oversimplification, catastrophe narrative (the whole "Dark Ages" bugbear) and teleological approaches (what's important is what's important to Us).
Most interesting to me were the chapters on peasant organization, especially in Wales and the Germanic regions and in Egypt, and somewhat the chapter on exchange systems. Anything you find interesting here, though, will suffer from being treated only briefly. The book has most usefully served me as a bibliography of works to read next, to go more in depth on topics that Wickham just brushed. I've got quite a list. That in itself is not a criticism, though, because it's what the book set out to provide- a frame, some basic structure for further work. That's a goal I think Wickham accomplishes very well.
April 17, 2018
Wickham's Framing the Early Middle Ages represented what I consider a paradigm shift in the scholarship around late antiquity, largely due to updated knowledge of new archaeological findings that scholars of 1970s and 1980s didn't possess.
The book essentially presented the transformation of the broader Roman world (that is, the Roman Empire proper as well as many of its peripheral regions such as Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, etc.) from late antiquity to early Middle Ages as an economic history -- much to Henri Pirenne's likeness but with utterly different approaches, methodologies, and conclusions. Whereas the famous Pirenne thesis viewed the rise of Islamic caliphate as an ultimately disrupting factor that undermined Mediterranean trade networks that characterized classical civilization, thus ending the Roman world for good, Wickham's thesis was much more multi-faceted, dealing with complex social and economic phenomenons from the demonumentalization of Roman cities to the gradual formation of a distinctive frontier culture. Wickham did not necessarily disprove Pirenne's arguments, what he presented was more like a "c'mon, let's move on already" call for those who were still debating issues of late antiquity in the 1970s mindset. The collapse (despite constant debates over whether a transformation is better suited for that period of time than the traditional concept of collapse, I see no ideological gap between the two -- as a whole, the broader Roman world experienced fundamental transformations, while specific entities -- communities, cities, or even the entire Western Empire, did collapse) of complex systems cannot be explained through one-line reasoning or any single-factor causal relationships. Although this may seem quite intuitive to modern readers, it has, for a long period of time, been the mainstream way of interpreting the fall of the Roman Empire. Integrating new archaeological findings with existing scholarly works succeeding Peter Brown, Wickham has indeed achieved something quite monumental -- bidding farewell to an entire academic framework.
The book essentially presented the transformation of the broader Roman world (that is, the Roman Empire proper as well as many of its peripheral regions such as Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, etc.) from late antiquity to early Middle Ages as an economic history -- much to Henri Pirenne's likeness but with utterly different approaches, methodologies, and conclusions. Whereas the famous Pirenne thesis viewed the rise of Islamic caliphate as an ultimately disrupting factor that undermined Mediterranean trade networks that characterized classical civilization, thus ending the Roman world for good, Wickham's thesis was much more multi-faceted, dealing with complex social and economic phenomenons from the demonumentalization of Roman cities to the gradual formation of a distinctive frontier culture. Wickham did not necessarily disprove Pirenne's arguments, what he presented was more like a "c'mon, let's move on already" call for those who were still debating issues of late antiquity in the 1970s mindset. The collapse (despite constant debates over whether a transformation is better suited for that period of time than the traditional concept of collapse, I see no ideological gap between the two -- as a whole, the broader Roman world experienced fundamental transformations, while specific entities -- communities, cities, or even the entire Western Empire, did collapse) of complex systems cannot be explained through one-line reasoning or any single-factor causal relationships. Although this may seem quite intuitive to modern readers, it has, for a long period of time, been the mainstream way of interpreting the fall of the Roman Empire. Integrating new archaeological findings with existing scholarly works succeeding Peter Brown, Wickham has indeed achieved something quite monumental -- bidding farewell to an entire academic framework.
November 13, 2025
toto je najdlhšia kniha ktorú som kedy čítal, 20 dní a 20 noci som študoval týchto 1300 strán o rannej stredovekej ekonomike a zmenilo ma to. Môj mozog sa zmenil, už len rozmýšľam o keramike, o aristokratoch a daňových systémoch. jedna z najlepších kníh ktoré som kedy čítal, odporúčam!
Read
September 27, 2015A massive synthesis of documentary history, archaeology and historiography produced since Pirenne's famous thesis established the dominant view of post-Roman transformation of the mediterranean and western Europe. This book sets out a materialist comparative analysis of the various territories (from Egypt to Spain to the British Isles) in the early centuries of the middle ages. This is now core undergrand material, and frankly a must-read for any medievalist.
Want to Read
April 30, 2016will be the death of me.
November 10, 2022
Framing the Early Middle Ages is an excellent and in-depth resource, and a spectacular scholarly accomplishment. The book covers the years between 400 and 800 and contrasts economic and governmental changes in many old Roman Provinces, as well as Ireland and Denmark.
Framing the Early Middle Ages requires the reader to have a decent understanding of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, as it is very in depth and will often assume the reader understands the context of various events. The book is primarily about economic history, with sections focused on things like taxation, aristocracy, and militarization. Each individual chapter is organized like an essay, using a central topic to extensively showcase and review every region. A very important omission is that of the spread of the church, which Wickham purposefully addresses at the beginning of the book. However, this is not much of a problem as the book might become overly bloated with such a large addition.
Overall, I strongly recommend this book to anyone with a proficient knowledge of the Early Middle Ages and a desire to learn far more.
Framing the Early Middle Ages requires the reader to have a decent understanding of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, as it is very in depth and will often assume the reader understands the context of various events. The book is primarily about economic history, with sections focused on things like taxation, aristocracy, and militarization. Each individual chapter is organized like an essay, using a central topic to extensively showcase and review every region. A very important omission is that of the spread of the church, which Wickham purposefully addresses at the beginning of the book. However, this is not much of a problem as the book might become overly bloated with such a large addition.
Overall, I strongly recommend this book to anyone with a proficient knowledge of the Early Middle Ages and a desire to learn far more.
March 15, 2020
Masterly review of the post-Roman world. An absolute must to understand the role of states, fiscal systems and systems of exchange in the making of Europe and the Middle East. How to treat a post-apocalyptic world seriously.
November 30, 2021
Not what I expected. Some interesting insights though.
September 9, 2022
beast mode
November 14, 2022
Honestly did my epq for me, why is it so big tho??
February 3, 2019
Dense, engaging, ruthlessly materialist and extremely thorough.
May 9, 2016
An impressive overview of the exchange networks -- in other words, the big-ticket economies, if you will -- of the late Roman and post-Roman worlds. This book brings together a lot of disparate information, and if you read it along with Michael McCormick's Origins of the European Economy you end up with a pretty comprehensive overview of the current state of early Medieval economic history. This book has a fair amount of social history too, though very little cultural history. And it's definitely for the more advanced reader. It assumes a working knowledge of the timeline and the countries/areas/states/whatever you'd call them in this period. (The rulers of the time are rarely mentioned.) But for someone like me, who is very interested in the time, it does a good job of providing the framework (like the title says) for other studies.
September 16, 2020
Definitely not for the casual reader and was at times heavy going for me. But my knowledge of the Early Middle Ages was pretty much limited to England and this survey of what had been the Roman Empire following it collapse is excellent and gave me the much broader picture I wanted. A good book for referring back to and inspires me to read about places I'd not previously fitted into my idea of the period, eg Egypt and North Africa.
July 24, 2016
a fabulous book, on formality, work and social issues in everyday's life.
January 7, 2018
Brilliant, detailed and well worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews