Florence and its hinterlands in the late Middle Ages: contrasting fortunes in the Tuscan countryside, 1300–1500

A key strand of research for social and economic historians of the pre-industrial period is the relationship between city and countryside. Sometimes urban and rural environments enjoyed mutually beneficial relationships, though in other cases cities reduced their rural hinterlands to poverty and decay – the question is, why? By focusing on late-medieval Florence and Tuscany, this paper moves away from approaching this question through an ‘urban bias’, and suggests the answers can be found within the structural configuration of rural societies themselves. Essentially, some rural regions were well set up to repel urban predatory tendencies, while other societies were susceptible to exploitation.     

Did the Priests Plant a Cross in This Woman’s Loins? Love and/or Marriage in the Middle Ages

Brooke, Christopher N.L. The Medieval Idea of Marriage Duby, Georges Love and Marriage in the Middle Ages Sheehan, Michael M. Marriage, Family and Law in Medieval Europe: Collected Studies Laiou, Angeliki, E. (ed.) Consent and Coercion to Sex and Marriage in Ancient and Medieval Societies Elliott, Dyan Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock     

Pandanus '98: Flowers,Nature, Semiotics. Kāvya and Sangam. Edited by Jaroslav Vacek (and) Blanka Knotková-Čapková

Indo-Iranian Journal -     

Making hay while the sun shines? Socio-economic change,cereal production and climatic deterioration in Early Medieval Ireland

The Early Medieval period in Ireland (c. A.D. 400–1150) has been the subject of much archaeological and historical study. The recent application of various forms of archaeological sciences, as well as palaeoenvironmental studies, to the archaeological record have, however, added fresh impetus to this study area. It seems increasingly evident that significant changes to economy and society occurred during this period and were not recorded in detail in the contemporary documentary sources. This paper will attempt to outline those changes and to assess whether, or to what extent, they were influenced by climate change.