Cultures of Power

Thomas N. Bisson is Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at Harvard University. Among his previous books are Assemblies and Representation in Languedoc in the Thirteenth Century, Fiscal Accounts of Catalonia Under the Early Count-Kings (1151-1213), and The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History.

• Preface.List of AbbreviationsIntroduction-Thomas N. BissonPART I. ELITES OLD AND NEW1.Nobles and Knights in Twelfth-Century France-Theodore Evergates2. Instruments of Power: The Profile and Profession of ministeriales Within German Aristocratic Society (1050-1225)-Benjamin Arnold3. Castles, Barons, and Vavassors in the Vendomois and Neighboring Regions in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries-Dominique BarthÉlmy4. Women and Power-Georges Duby5. Proposing the Ordeal and Avoiding It: Strategy and Power in Western French Litigation, 1050-1110-Stephen D. WhitePART II. STRATEGY, MEANS, PROCESS6. England, France, and the Problem of Sacrality in Twelfth-Century Ritual-Geoffrey Koziol7. Law and Power in Twelfth-Century Flanders-R. C. Van Caenegem8. Papal Judges Delegate and the Making of the "New Law" in the Twelfth Century-Charles DugganPART III. CULTURES OF POWER9. Sacred Sanctions for Lordship-John Ven Engen10. LeÓn: The Iconography of a Capital-John W. Williams11. Jongleur as Propagandist: The Ecclesiastical Politics of Marcabru's Poetry-Laura Kendrick12. Courtliness and Social Change-C. Stephen Jaeger13. Principes gentium dominantur eorum: Princely Power Between Legitimacy and Illegitimacy in Twelfth-Century Exegesis-Philippe BucConclusion-Thomas N. BissonList of ContributorsIndex