Why Europe?
eBook - PDF

Why Europe?

The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Why Europe?

The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path

About this book

Why did capitalism and colonialism arise in Europe and not elsewhere? Why were parliamentarian and democratic forms of government founded there? What factors led to Europe's unique position in shaping the world? Thoroughly researched and persuasively argued, Why Europe? tackles these classic questions with illuminating results.

Michael Mitterauer traces the roots of Europe's singularity to the medieval era, specifically to developments in agriculture. While most historians have located the beginning of Europe's special path in the rise of state power in the modern era, Mitterauer establishes its origins in rye and oats. These new crops played a decisive role in remaking the European family, he contends, spurring the rise of individualism and softening the constraints of patriarchy. Mitterauer reaches these conclusions by comparing Europe with other cultures, especially China and the Islamic world, while surveying the most important characteristics of European society as they took shape from the decline of the Roman empire to the invention of the printing press. Along the way, Why Europe? offers up a dazzling series of novel hypotheses to explain the unique evolution of European culture.

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Yes, you can access Why Europe? by Michael Mitterauer, Gerald Chapple in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & European History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Year
2010
Print ISBN
9780226532530
eBook ISBN
9780226532387
Topic
History
Subtopic
European History
Index
History
C
H
A
P
T
E
R 
T
H
R
E
E
98
between 
the 
prince 
and 
the 
nobility, 
it 
also 
controlled 
the 
relationship 
between 
lord 
and 
peasant 
in 
the 
conguration 
of 
the 
manorial 
system. 
This 
is 
surely 
why 
the 
profound 
transformations 
in 
kinship 
and 
family 
systems 
in 
Europe 
were 
connected 
with 
the 
constitution 
of 
specically 
European 
structures 
of 
lordship.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Translator’s Note
  3. Preface to the English Edition
  4. Introduction to the First Edition
  5. 1. Rye and Oats: The Agrarian Revolution of the Early Middle Ages
  6. 2. Manor and Hide: The Manorial Roots of European Social Structures
  7. 3. The Conjugal Family and Bilateral Kinship: Social Flexibility through Looser Ties of Descent
  8. 4. The Feudal System and the Estates: A Special Path of Feudalism
  9. 5. The Papal Church and Universal Religious Orders: Western Christendom as a Highly Organized Religious Community
  10. 6. The Crusades and Protocolonialism: The Roots of European Expansionism
  11. 7. Preaching and Printing: Early Modes of Mass Communication
  12. Conclusion: “Through what concatenation of circumstances . . . ?” Interacting Determinants of Europe’s Special Path
  13. Notes
  14. Bibliography
  15. Index