Reviews for Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800

The average rating for Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800 based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-11-22 00:00:00 Graham Hoffner Academic but extremely thorough, Wickham's book gives a fascinating picture of the economy and society of Europe in the early Middle Ages.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-04-20 00:00:00 Terry Pink This book is a huge accomplishment and a genuinely impressive work of scholarship. It's quite dense to read at points (though Wickham does admirably in making what could be a chore rather engaging), but Wickham's sturdy and methodical scholarship are really pretty wonderful and he does a great job in painting the former Roman Empire (plus Denmark and Ireland) from 400-800 as taxation systems simplified (or disappeared), aristocracies markedly decreased in their wealth (and consequently their buying power, generating a localization of systems of exchange) and militarized in their culture, and peasants often became increasingly autonomous. For Wickham, the world didn't end with the fall of Rome but it did change in substantial ways. One possible caveat to this book is one that Wickham openly acknowledges: it's an economic history through and through, and potential cultural developments aren't generally addressed. Considering the importance of the spread of the Church through this period it's a tough omission. But a book can't include everything, and it's not particularly fair of me to criticize what the author consciously chose not to address in this work. It's just that he did a very good job on all the rest, and it would be interesting to see in what ways (if any) cultural and ecclesiastical change affect Wickham's argument.