Challenging the Boundaries of Medieval History

The Legacy of Timothy Reuter

Patricia Skinner (ed)

Pages: viii + 208 p.
Size:156 x 234 mm

Language(s):English
Publication Year:2010

Buy print version

€ 65,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE

ISBN: 978-2-503-52359-0
Hardback
Available

Buy e-version

€ 65,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE

ISBN: 978-2-503-53869-3
E-book
Available

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.

Subject(s)

Review(s)

"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)

Summary

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.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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