Western Europe in the Middle Ages

by Joseph Strayer

Western Europe
in the
Middle Ages

A SHORT HISTORY

JOSEPH R. STRAYER PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

NEW YORK

APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC.

COPYRIGHT, 1955, BY APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC.

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission of the publishers.

685-12

Library of Congress Card Number: 54-10683

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

E 85336

CONTENTS

	PREFACE		v
	INTRODUCTION		1
⁠
1.	THE MAKING OF EUROPE		11
	I.	The Roman Empire	13
	II.	The Church	21
	III.	The Germanic Migrations	26
	IV.	The End of Mediterranean Unity	35
	V.	The Work of Charlemagne	44
⁠
2.	THE YEARS OF TRANSITION		55
	I.	The Collapse of the Carolingian Empire—Feudalism	57
	II.	The Revival of the Empire—Germany and Italy	66
	III.	The Renewal of Western Civilization	74
⁠
3.	THE FLOWERING OF MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION		89
	I.	The Temper of the Twelfth Century	91
	II.	The Commonwealth of Christendom	100
	III.	The Development of Secular Governments	106
	IV.	New Ideas and Their Expression in the Twelfth Century	127
⁠
4.	THE MEDIEVAL SUMMER		141
	I.	The Temper of the Thirteenth Century	143
	II.	The Papal Monarchy—Innocent III	147
	III.	The Papal Monarchy—The Popes and the Hohenstaufen	157
	IV.	The Rise of the Secular State	163
	V.	Economic, Intellectual, and Artistic Activities in the Thirteenth Century	176
⁠
5.	THE LONG AUTUMN		187
	I.	The Changing Climate of Opinion	189
	II.	The First Frosts	191
	III.	The Failure of the Secular States	196
	IV.	Lost in the Fog	205
	V.	Premature Spring in Italy	212
	VI.	Fire Under the Northern Ashes	220
⁠
	SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING		231
	INDEX		237