Overview

Rulers and Rulership in the Arc of Medieval Europe challenges the dominant paradigm of what rulership is and who rulers are by decentering the narrative and providing a broad swath of examples from throughout medieval Europe. Within that territory, the prevalent idea of monarchy and kingship is overturned in favor of a broad definition of rulership. This book will demonstrate to the reader that the way in which medieval Europe has been constructed in both the popular and scholarly imaginations is incorrect. Instead of a king we have multiple rulers, male and female, ruling concurrently. Instead of an independent church or a church striving for supremacy under the Gregorian Reform, we have a pope and ecclesiastical leaders making deals with secular rulers and an in-depth interconnection between the two. Finally, instead of a strong centralizing polity growing into statehood we see weak rulers working hand in glove with weak subordinates to make the polity as a whole function. Medievalists, Byzantinists, and Slavists typically operate in isolation from one another. They do not read each other’s books, or engage with each other’s work. This book requires engagement from all of them to point out that the medieval Europe that they work in is one and the same and demands collaboration to best understand it.

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9781032482897

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Reviews

'By developing a new geographical frame of investigation that dismantles arbitrary boundaries, integrates polities across Europe and questions conceptions of rulership based more on modern assumptions than the reality of the medieval past, the author is able to bring a unique perspective to these topics that appreciates the full range of possible participants and practices ... Taken in toto, this book has the potential to fundamentally alter the way scholars think and talk, not just about medieval rulers and rulership, but about medieval Europe more generally' - Erin Jordan, Colorado State University, USA. 'If you don't want your view of the Middle Ages to be governed by the cultural politics of the Cold War, this is the book for you. Raffensperger not only offers a new understanding of medieval rulership, he provides a framework for integrating east and west into a single discussion. The Arc of Medieval Europe is an exemplary step toward the goal of a global and inclusive Middle Ages' - Anthony Kaldellis, University of Chicago, USA. 'In this concise volume, Christian Raffensperger questions some of the received wisdom about how we view rulers and rulership, in part by systematically addressing both queens and kings-something that should be taken as a given but is far from the norm. His incisive analyses of such themes as titulature, power sharing, and succession, together with his close observation of trends in scholarly translations, are set out with admirable clarity. Rightly urging that we shift our focus on medieval rulership in order to take a synthetic view of a wide swathe of territory, this monograph allows us to look anew at European kingdoms within a whole, rather than divided into West (the historiographical center) and East (rarely included in standard medieval European histories)' - Therese Martin, Centre for Human and Social Sciences (CCHS), Madrid, Spain. 'In an era in which 'medieval' is so often equated with fantasies about kings in castles and fights over thrones, it is a delight and veritable breakthrough to have Raffensperger's clearheaded analysis of dynamics of rulership in medieval Europe, broadly conceived. This is an exemplary display of the power of comparative history' - Leonora Neville, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. 'Theoretically innovative, boldly comparative, vividly written and well-constructed, Rulers and Rulership in the Arc of Medieval Europe is a path-breaking work. Thanks to Christian Raffensperger, one will now have a better understanding of the immense complexities of power configuration in Europe between 1000 and 1200. There is nothing comparable to this book in the field. It covers new ground thematically, while shedding considerable light on areas of the continent that are much too often studied parochially, without consideration of what was happening at the same time in other parts of Europe' - Florin Curta, University of Florida, USA.

'By developing a new geographical frame of investigation that dismantles arbitrary boundaries, integrates polities across Europe and questions conceptions of rulership based more on modern assumptions than the reality of the medieval past, the author is able to bring a unique perspective to these topics that appreciates the full range of possible participants and practices ... Taken in toto, this book has the potential to fundamentally alter the way scholars think and talk, not just about medieval rulers and rulership, but about medieval Europe more generally' - Erin Jordan, Colorado State University, USA. 'If you don't want your view of the Middle Ages to be governed by the cultural politics of the Cold War, this is the book for you. Raffensperger not only offers a new understanding of medieval rulership, he provides a framework for integrating east and west into a single discussion. The Arc of Medieval Europe is an exemplary step toward the goal of a global and inclusive Middle Ages' - Anthony Kaldellis, University of Chicago, USA. 'In this concise volume, Christian Raffensperger questions some of the received wisdom about how we view rulers and rulership, in part by systematically addressing both queens and kings-something that should be taken as a given but is far from the norm. His incisive analyses of such themes as titulature, power sharing, and succession, together with his close observation of trends in scholarly translations, are set out with admirable clarity. Rightly urging that we shift our focus on medieval rulership in order to take a synthetic view of a wide swathe of territory, this monograph allows us to look anew at European kingdoms within a whole, rather than divided into West (the historiographical center) and East (rarely included in standard medieval European histories)' - Therese Martin, Centre for Human and Social Sciences (CCHS), Madrid, Spain.

Author Information

Christian Raffensperger is the Kenneth E. Wray Chair in the Humanities at Wittenberg University. The focus of his scholarly work has been on connecting eastern Europe with the rest of medieval Europe. This began with his first book, Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus’ in the Medieval World (Harvard UP, 2012) and has continued through numerous other books and articles.

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