num_pages: 180
description: Professor Barraclough presents a study of that largely neglected period in European history between 800 and 1150 which encompassed the transition from the empire of Charles the Great to the medieval world of nation-states. This is the work of analysis and interpretation which first establishes the social, political and religious framework of Carolingian Europe and then demonstrates the long-range results of the breakdown that followed Charles the Great's death and the partition of his empire, the so-called barbarian invasions, and the varied means by which different parts of the continent and England defended themselves against this threat. Once they had made their characteristic adjustments in ways that led to quasi-national entities that we recognize as France, Italy, Germany and England, there was a period of settled government and economic recovery that lasted for roughly a century from 955. But then new tensions – both political and religious – developed, and by the dawn of the 12th century a virtual revolution was taking place. "The ninth-century invasions", writes the author, "were the solvent of Carolingian society; the events of the half-century after 1073 were the solvent of the society arising out of the invasions. By 1122 European society has another shape, another centre; and European history set out on new paths."
language: English
title: The Crucible of Europe: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries in European History
titlecomplete: The Crucible of Europe: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries in European History
genres: Academic, Medieval History, European History, Nonfiction, Medieval, History
ratings_count: 55
publisher: University of California Press