Assembly is a central feature of the
European political process between the demise of the Roman Empire and
the rise of the bureaucratic state in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. Historians have often neglected the crucial rule of
political assemblies in their own right, concentrating instead on
exceptional or extraordinary attention-catching events which occurred
at assemblies. Earlier generations of scholars tried to discern in such
assemblies the forerunners of later medieval parliaments and other
forms of representative government. By contrast, the contributors to
this volume present medieval assemblies in their own terms.Were political assemblies in the
earlier Middle Ages convened to confirm decisions already taken
elsewhere or were they genuinely deliberative? How, if at all, did
political assemblies create consensus? At what level(s) of the
political and administrative hierarchy were assemblies held, who
attended such gatherings, how were they conducted, and where were they
held? The main focus is on assemblies of emperors, kings, and princes,
and on those of townsfolk, those some more local assemblies are also
discussed. The over-arching thematic structure relates to the purposes
of assemblies and how they worked, their practical and ritual or
symbolic aspects, and the degree to which they were stage-managed, and
by whom. The contributors bring archaeological, as well as historical,
evidence to bear and present a range of geographical, political and
historiographical approaches and traditions. The papers offer a
coherent thread of analysis running from the immediate successor states
of the Roman Empire to the High Middle Ages and range in geographic
coverage from Scandinavia to Catalonia, and from Ireland to
Russia.
Political Assemblies: Introduction - P. S. Barnwell
Kings, Nobles, and Assemblies in the Barbarian Kingdoms - P. S. Barnwell
Talking Heads: Assemblies in Early Medieval Germany - Stuart Airlie
Assemblies and Charters in Late Anglo-Saxon England - Charles Insley
Legal Assemblies and Judicial Structure in Early Scandinavia - Stefan Brink
Royal Inauguration Assembly and the Church in Medieval Ireland - Elizabeth Fitzpatrick
Consensus and Assemblies in Early Medieval Central and Eastern Europe - János M. Bak and Pavel Lukin
Aristocratic Assemblies in Brittany, 1066–1203 - Judith Everard
Reasons for Assembly in Catalonia and Aragón, 900–1200 - Adam J. Kosto
Galbert of Bruges on Political Meeting Culture: Palavers and Fights in Flanders During the Years 1127 and 1128 - A. Demyttenaere
Representative Assemblies in Communal Italy - Edward Coleman
"The volume provides a concise and up-to-date overview of its theme. (...) this is a volume which will serve both as useful reference work and as a solid platform for further research." (S. Maclean, in: Early Medieval Europe, 2005, 13 (2), p.220-221)