Richard Kenneth Emmerson (editor) - Key figures in medieval Europe : an encyclopedia

Routledge Revivals

Key Figures in Medieval Europe

First published in 2006, Key Figures in Medieval Europe , brings together in one volume the most important people who lived in medieval Europe between 500 and 1500. Gathered from the biographical entries from the series, Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages , these A-Z biographical entries discuss the lives of over 575 individuals who have had a historical impact in such areas as politics, religion, and the arts. It includes individuals from places such as medieval England, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, and Scandinavia, as well as those from the Jewish and Islamic worlds.

In one convenient volume, students, scholars, and interested readers will find the biographies of the people whose actions, beliefs, creations, and writings shaped the Middle Ages, one of the most fascinating periods of world history.

An Encyclopedia

Edited by
Richard K. Emmerson

Associate Editor
Sandra Clayton-Emmerson

First published in 2006
by Routledge

This edition first published in 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2006 Taylor and Francis Group

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 2006272834

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-05412-7 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978-1-315-16700-8 (ebk)

KEY FIGURES IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA

Richard K. Emmerson

Editor

Sandra Clayton-Emmerson

Associate Editor

Published in 2006 by
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
711 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
2 Park Square
Milton Park, Abingdon
Oxon OX14 4RN

2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group

International Standard Book Number-10: 0-415-97385-6 (Hardcover)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-415-97385-4 (Hardcover)

No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Catalog record is available from the Library of Congress

Key Figures in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia provides a broad introduction to the biographical knowledge collected and investigated by modern scholarship over the past several decades regarding the persons whose actions, beliefs, creations, and writings shaped the Middle Ages, roughly that period in European history stretching from about 500 to 1500.

The geographic and chronological range of this volume is therefore extensive and impressive, as are the lives and accomplishments of the 587 figures it discusses. Although the historical record tends to favor persons born into or achieving the higher estates of the Middle Ages, such as the princes of church and state, these entries include a wide range of individuals, from emperors and queens to businessmen and traveling performers, from popes and university scholars to visionary women and heretics, from one of the greatest poets of all times, Dante, who during the later Middle Ages was known internationally, to Caedmon, a little known oral poet living on the edge of civilized Europe during the early Middle Ages. These are the people who influenced, motivated, and were shaped by the artistic, economic, intellectual, literary, political, religious, and social history of one of the most fascinating periods of world history, the Middle Ages. It is worth noting that the Islamic world receives attention in Key Figures in Medieval Europe, most of all because of its important place in medieval Iberia.

The 587 entries included in Key Figures in Medieval Europe are drawn from the following eight previously published volumes in the Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages series, initiated by Garland.

The entries comprising Key Figures in Medieval Europe were carefully selected amongst the biographical entries found in the above volumes to provide a source for quick and ready information. The present volume is intended not only for students, librarians, teachers, and the general public, who may be interested in the Middle Ages but do not wish to purchase or sift through numerous individual encyclopedias, but also for medievalists and other scholars who want to have a reliable reference work easily at hand. By drawing on previously published entries, the volume gathers the best of scholarship scattered over eight volumes into one easy to use biographical resource. To preserve the integrity of the scholarship, the entries are published as they originally appeared.

The strength of the entries is evident in the quality of the scholarship that informed the original volumes and that drew on the wide knowledge of hundreds of scholars selected by the editors of the volumes for their expertise in the areas of medieval studies assigned to them. The entries, therefore, are reliable accounts of the medieval figures discussed and can be used with confidence by all readers.