Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700–c.1500 Book contents
- Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700–c.1500
- Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700–c.1500
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- General Maps
- 1 Political Culture in Three Spheres
- 2 Reflections on Political Culture in Three Spheres
- Part I Sources
- Part II Historical Contexts
- Part III Norms, Values and Their Propagation
- Part IV Practice and Organisation
- Part V Conclusions
- Appendix
- Glossary
- Index
1 - Political Culture in Three Spheres
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 August 2021
- Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700–c.1500
- Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700–c.1500
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- General Maps
- 1 Political Culture in Three Spheres
- 2 Reflections on Political Culture in Three Spheres
- Part I Sources
- Part II Historical Contexts
- Part III Norms, Values and Their Propagation
- Part IV Practice and Organisation
- Part V Conclusions
- Appendix
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
This introduction outlines the key aims of the book and its genesis, including a definition of what political culture means – the rituals and explicit legitimisation of power, status and property-holding, alongside the unstated assumptions and customs that help to channel tensions and rivalries within polities. It situates the volume’s approach – a presentation of three neighbouring and overlapping political spheres – within the recent turn towards the global middle ages. Neither a work of systematic and explicit comparison nor an attempt at overarching synthesis or grand narrative – nor a shot at tracing trans-regional connections – the book aims rather to find a conceptual language applicable to all three spheres, attempting to make each sphere accessible to non-specialists. This pioneering survey of three spheres – the Latin west, Byzantium and the Islamic world – should provide useful tools for learning, teaching and research today but is also an invitation to future study of medieval political culture.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700–c.1500A Framework for Comparing Three Spheres, pp. 1 - 16Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021