Dedicated to Prof. Reuter's memory and in some cases directly continuing his work, this is a collection of essays that shows medieval historians at work, questioning and reflecting on their practice.
How is the history of medieval Europe written? What national
discourses shape the editing of medieval texts and their
interpretation in historiography? And how can medieval historians
confront these questions by reintegrating their fragmented field
through the use of comparison and critiques across national
boundaries? In his work, Timothy Reuter regularly posed these
challenges to his colleagues, acting as a bridge between the
historians of England and Germany, working on an edition of the
letters of Wibald of Stavelot (whose own career took him to many of
the power centres of medieval Europe), and positioning medieval
Europe in the wider discourses of world history. The essays
collected here provide a response to this challenge. Dedicated to
Prof. Reuter's memory and in some cases directly continuing his
work, all are explicitly comparative in their approach. All of the
authors take as their starting point the need to be conscious of
the situation from which they themselves are writing and to be
sensitive to the training traditions which have shaped their own
interpretations. This book shows medieval historians at work,
questioning and reflecting on their practice. As well as being of
value to specialists in the field, the essays are written in an
approachable style and will therefore be of value as a teaching
tool to undergraduate and graduate students.
Problems in Doing Comparative History - Chris Wickham
Charlemagne and the Paradoxes of Power - Janet L. Nelson
The Politics of Rebellion: The Aetheling Aethelwold and West Saxon Royal Succession, 899–902 - Ryan Lavelle
Reading Ottonian History: The Sonderweg and Other Myths - David A. Warner
The King as Judge: Henry II and Frederick Barbarossa as Seen by their Contemporaries - Björn Weiler
The Ideology of the Tenth-Century English Benedictine ‘Reform’ - Julia Barrow
From Pisa to the Patriarchate: Chapters in the Life of (Arch)bishop Daibert - Patricia Skinner
Editing a Medieval Text: The Case of Nicholas of Clairvaux - Lena Wahlgren-Smith
Timothy Reuter and the Edition of Wibald of Stavelot's Letter Collection for the MGH - Martina Hartmann
"Together these papers are a fitting tribute to Tim Reuter. And for medievalists looking for a dissertation topic, this book is exceptionally rich in suggestions." (T. F. X. Noble, in: The Medieval Review, 11.02.12)
"It stands as a fine tribute to the value and legacy of his [Tim Reuter's] scholarship." (John W. Bernhardt, in: Early Medieval Europe, 2012, N° 20 (1), p. 106-108)