List of Figures and Maps
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part 1: Silesia in the high Middle Ages (eleventh to thirteenth century)
Chapter 1: A region at crossroads
Silesia’s origins in a European context – Rulers over Silesia – Society and culture
Chapter 2: Dukes and duchesses
Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries – Silesian dukes and duchesses in the thirteenth century – Ruling the Silesian duchies
Chapter 3: Connections of courtly culture.
European aristocracy and chivalric culture – Nobility and knighthood – Literacy and the nobility – Chivalric literature – Chivalric lifestyle
Chapter 4: The Silesian church and the Jewish community
Changes in Christian society – Spiritual and secular authority – Jurisdiction over Jews – Churches and schools – Monasteries and convents – Documents and books – History writing, hagiography, and scholarship
Chapter 5: Peasant society in an age of transformation
Agricultural economy in high medieval Europe – Silesian peasants and Polish law – An era of innovation – Lords and peasants
Chapter 6: Urbanization in a changing society
Urbanization in the European high Middle Ages – Chartered towns: the law of Magdeburg – Urban population – Municipal administration – Town life and urban culture
Part 2: Silesia in the late Middle Ages (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries).
Chapter 7: Silesia and the crown of Bohemia
Late medieval crises – Silesia and the House of Luxembourg – The Hussites and Silesia – Governance in the late Middle Ages
Chapter 8: Courtly culture in Silesia and Europe
Chivalry in late medieval Europe – The courts – Late medieval chivalry
Chapter 9: Churches, monasteries, and synagogues
Crises and renewal in the late Middle Ages – The bishops of Wrocław – Religious institutions in transition – Higher education – Book culture and art
Chapter 10: Peasant society – continuity and crisis
Late medieval challenges – Lords and the land – Villagers – Peasant culture
Chapter 11: Towns in developing networks
Towns and markets in late medieval Europe – Urbanization in late medieval Silesia – Merchants and artisans – Town life – Late medieval challenges – Jews and the municipal councils – Urban culture and society
Chapter 12: Towards the modern age
An era of change – The Habsburgs – The Reformation – Jews – New forms of domination – Urbanization and trade
Conclusion
Bibliography
Biography
Sébastien Rossignol is associate professor of medieval European history at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Interested in pragmatic literacy, urbanization, and the environment in medieval Central Europe, he is the author of a study of charters and practices of reading in Silesia and Pomerania (2019).
