Cover image Cambridge University Press |
Medieval
Germany, more commonly referred to as the Holy Roman Empire, is an exciting region during the Middle Ages. The Holy Roman
Empire first received its name from the time Charlemagne, also known as Charles
the Great or Karl der Gross, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor from the Church.
Medieval Germany consisted of an extravagant
number of nobles ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Medieval Germany scholarly
works are hard to come by since most, understandably, are published in German
not English.
Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany by
Benjamin Arnold is an interesting and fundamental work for any enthusiastic
party yearning to learn about Medieval Germany. Dr. Arnold is emeritus
professor of history at The University of
Reading. Dr. Arnold's fantastic work on medieval Germany illustrates a
major question about pre-modern Germany's political history: why did a plethora
of states and territories emerge at the close of the Middle Ages instead of a “nation
state” under a crown? Modern day neighbors of Germany emerged from the Middle
Ages as nation states under their respective crowns including Spain, France,
England and the Dutch. Dr. Arnold explains Germany's detour to its present day
state with a look at the different German nobles and relationships each noble
class had with their king and the Church. Do not be misled by the title of this monograph. The book dives into Medieval Germany and it does not list the princes and their respected territories.
Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany delves into medieval
Germany by dividing its contents into three parts: Crown and Prince, Princely
Title and Office, and Dynasties, Prelates and Territorial Dominion. In the
first third of the book, Arnold dives into the German crown and explains the
regal institutions of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Opening up the book
with the crown and regal institutions helps the pave the way of understanding a
complex kingdom that looked at its self as the heir to the fallen Roman Empire.
After Arnold brings to life the crown, its rights, and princes he finishes the
first third of the book by asking the question “was there a rise of territorial
lordship?”
After exploring the crown and its
rights, Arnold moves onto the final two thirds of his work with a dive into the
different noble titles including: German bishops, abbots, dukes, counts and
margraves. After learning about the different noble titles, Arnold goes into
the transformations of duchies and counties. Once this work illustrates the
different noble titles and changes to the land, Arnold ends his monograph with explaining
the foundation of Medieval German reforms, feuds, inheritance, and the effects
and outcomes from the region. The end of this scholarly work helps one
understand the main question raised by Dr. Arnold at the beginning of his book,
why did a plethora of states and territories emerge at the close of the Middle
Ages instead of a ‘nation state’ under a crown?”
Arnold's scholarly book, Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany, brings to light an intriguing medieval kingdom, Germany, and explains,
through Germany's political history of the Middle Ages, why Germany did not
exit the Middle Ages with a nation state under a crown. Anyone interested in
Medieval history needs to explore this interesting monograph from Cambridge
University Press. On top of Medieval history enthusiasts, any person
interested in political history and the formation of nation states of Early
Modern Europe will love this book. Though the book can be dense to read at
times, the overall flow and syntax added to Arnold's expertise of Medieval
Germany makes Princes and Territories in
Medieval Germany an excellent addition to anyone whom has a passion for
history, learning and reading.
Grade B
No comments:
Post a Comment