This comparative study analyses Cistercian strategies on the northern and north-eastern frontiers of medieval Europe. Through case studies of six houses in Pomerania and Neumark (Ko'bacz, Marienwalde, and Himmelstadt) and on the Scottish-English border (Melrose, Dundrennan, and Holm Cultram), the author traces the development of social networks around these monasteries within their own regions and across borders, and explores the importance of the international Cistercian networks for communities located in these politically sensitive areas. Very different socio-economic conditions in the regions under discussion resulted in quite different strategies of land accumulation by Cistercian monasteries in Scotland and Pomerania, which in turn had a lasting impact on their relationships with their neighbours. The author also examines the role of these abbeys in wider ecclesiastical politics and in relation to the key issues of the time: church reform and the expectations of the order's lay patrons and benefactors. In the fourteenth century, all of the abbeys experienced war, violence, and long-term instability. Their responses to these threats and difficulties are significant for our understanding of monastic strategies in hostile environments. Above all, this study shows how a Cistercian model was adapted to fit the complex political, cultural, and ethnic contexts of the southern Baltic, Northern England, and Scotland.

This book is the first of its kind to engage explicitly with the practice of conceptual history as it relates to the study of the Middle Ages, exploring the pay-offs and pitfalls of using concepts in medieval history. Concepts are indispensable to historians as a means of understanding past societies, but those concepts conjured in an effort to bring order to the infinite complexity of the past have a bad habit of taking on a life of their own and inordinately influencing historical interpretation. The most famous example is ‘feudalism’, whose fate as a concept is reviewed here by E.A.R. Brown nearly fifty years after her seminal article on the topic. The volume’s contributors offer a series of case studies of other concepts – 'colony', 'crisis', 'frontier', 'identity', 'magic', 'networks' and 'politics' – that have been influential, particularly among historians of Britain and Ireland in the later Middle Ages. The book explores the creative friction between historical ideas and analytical categories, and the potential for fresh and meaningful understandings to emerge from their dialogue.

A Companion to Medieval Rules and Customaries offers an introduction to the rules and customaries of the main religious orders in medieval Europe: Benedictine, Cistercian, Carthusian, Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Templar, Hospitaller, Teutonic, Dominican, Franciscan, and Carmelite. As well as introducing the early history and spirituality of the orders, scholars survey the central topics – organization, doctrine, morality, liturgy, and culture, as documented by these primary sources. Contributors are: James Clark, Tom Gaens, Jean-François Godet-Calogeras, Holly Grieco, Emilia Jamroziak, Gert Melville, Stephen Molvarec, Carol Neel, Krijn Pansters, Matthew Ponesse, Bert Roest, Kristjan Toomaspoeg, Paul van Geest, Ursula Vones-Liebenstein, and Coralie Zermatten.

Medieval Monasticism traces the Western Monastic tradition from its fourth-century origins in the deserts of Egypt and Syria through the many and varied forms of religious life it assumed during the Middle Ages. It explores the relationship between monasteries and the secular world around them. For a thousand years, the great monastic houses and religious orders were a prominent feature of the social landscape of the West, and their leaders figured as much in the political as on the spiritual map of the medieval world. In this book many of them, together with their supporters and critics, are presented to us and speak their minds to us. We are shown, for instance, the controversy between the Benedictines and the reformed monasticism of the twelfth century and the problems that confronted women in religious life. A detailed glossary offers readers a helpful vocabulary of the subject. This fifth edition has been revised by Janet Burton to include an updated bibliography and an introduction which discusses recent trends in monastic studies, including reinterpretations of issues of reform and renewal, new scholarship on religious women, and interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches. This book is essential reading for both students and scholars of the medieval world.

Presents the Order's figureheads, practical life and spiritual horizon, and its contribution to medieval Europe's religious, cultural and political climate.

The Slippery Memory of Men analyzes how during the early fourteenth century a discourse of eternal enmity was created between the Teutonic Knights and the rulers of Poland as these former allies contended over the disputed region of Pomerania.

Introduction to Medieval Europe 300–1500 provides a comprehensive survey of this complex and varied formative period of European history, covering themes as diverse as barbarian migrations, the impact of Christianisation, the formation of nations and states, the emergence of an expansionist commercial economy, the growth of cities, the Crusades, the effects of plague, and the intellectual and cultural life of the Middle Ages. The book explores the driving forces behind the formation of medieval society and the directions in which it developed and changed. In doing this, the authors cover a wide geographic expanse, including Western interactions with the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic World. This third edition contains a wealth of new features that help to bring this fascinating era to life, including: In the book: A number of new maps and images to further understanding of the period Clear signposting and extended discussions of key topics such as feudalism and gender Expanded geographic coverage into Eastern Europe and the Middle East On the companion website: An updated, comparative and interactive timeline, highlighting surprising synchronicities in medieval history, and annotated links to useful websites A list of movies, television series and novels related to the Middle Ages, accompanied by introductions and commentaries Assignable discussion questions and the maps, plates, figures and tables from the book available to download and use in the classroom Clear and stimulating, the third edition of Introduction to Medieval Europe is the ideal companion to studying Europe in the Middle Ages at undergraduate level.