The Birth of Europe

Series Editor’s Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

Maps xii

Introduction 1

Preludes: Before the Middle Ages 6

1 The Conception of Europe (Fourth to Eighth Centuries) 14

2 An Aborted Europe: The Carolingian World (Eighth to Tenth Centuries) 29

3 A Dream of Europe and the Potential Europe of the Year 1000 40

4 Feudal Europe (Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries) 49

5 The ‘‘Fine’’ Europe of Towns and Universities (Thirteenth Century) 99

6 The Autumn of the Middle Ages or the Spring of a New Age? 154

Conclusion 194

Chronology 202

A Selective Thematic Bibliography 211

Index 252