PART I: INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 Why study this period?
Formative character
Challenges to study
This book's aims
Questions, models, and experiments
PART II: EMPIRE AND PEOPLES
Introduction
Chapter 2 From Roman Empire to barbarian kingdoms: cataclysm or transition?
The First Doom and Gloom Model
The Second Doom and Gloom Model
The Deliberate Roman Policy Model
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 3 The dismemberment and survival of the Byzantine Empire
The First Doom and Gloom Model
The Second Doom and Gloom Model
The Deliberate Byzantine Policy Model
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 4 The Arab conquests
Approach 1: Accepting validity of the written sources
Approach 2: Being sceptical of the sources
Approach 3: Reading back from the heyday of the Umayyad and 'Abbasid caliphates
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 5 The making of peoples
The Biological Model
The Constitutional Model
Why did peoples form?
Companion website resources
Research and study
Conclusion
Timeline: Part II
PART III: POWER AND SOCIETY
Introduction
Chapter 6 Pagan, Roman, and Christian beliefs about Rulers: ideological power
Paganism and rulership
Roman ideology and kingship
Christianity and rulership
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 7 Edicts, taxes, and armies: bureaucratic power
Written documents
Oral communication, symbolism, and ritual
Government departments and staff
Capabilities of governments
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 8 Kings, warriors, and women: personal power
War-bands
Feasting, drinking, and the hall
The social pyramid
Aristocratic elites
The role of women
Nearness to the king
Companion website resources
Research and study
Conclusion
Timeline: Part III
PART IV: THE ECONOMIC FOUNDATION
Introduction
Chapter 9 Trade as a driving force?
Pirenne and his critics
The nature of the Roman and Byzantine economies
The economic influence of the Arab caliphate
Decline and revival of trade?
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 10 Cultivating the land: the basis of European society?
The continuity of Roman agriculture
An agricultural revolution?
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 11 Towns and cities: the functions of urban life
The fate of Roman cities
Functions of cities and towns
Growth of cities and towns
New towns
Cities and towns as tools of power
Companion website resources
Research and study
Conclusion
Timeline: Part IV
PART V: THE CHURCH'S TRIUMPH
Introduction
Chapter 12 Conversion to Christianity
The Roman Empire
The barbarians within the Roman Empire
Conversion outside the former Roman Empire
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 13 The success of monasticism
'Bottom-up' model
'Top-down' model
Companion website resources
Research and study
Chapter 14 The power of bishops and popes
Bishops and popes in the Church hierarchy
The resources of popes and bishops
Bishops and popes in the world
Companion website resources
Research and study
Conclusion
Timeline: Part V
General Conclusion
Sources
References
Image Credits