Slave Trading in the Early Middle Ages

Janel M. Fontaine is an archaeologist in the public sector and an Affiliate Researcher at the University of Glasgow.

• IntroductionPart I: The economics of slave trading1 Slavery within the slaving zones2 External demand3 Making slavesPart II: Logistics and strategies of slaving4 Warfare and enslavement5 Small-scale slave trading6 High demand systems7 Slaving and powerEpilogueIndex

'Janel M. Fontaine has in her book, Slave Trading in the Early Middle Ages: Long-Distance Connections in Northern and East Central Europe, presented us with an important study regarding slavery and slave trading in medieval Europe. The book presents both a good and up-to-date summary of the human abomination called slavery and unfreedom, as well as--and here lies the great merit of her work--a discussion of slavery and slave trading in eastern Europe, especially in and around the Czech lands, comparing what we find here with what we understand of slavery and slave trading in England and the British Isles. This is an important book for our understanding of slavery in early medieval Europe.' Stefan Brink, University of Cambridge, Uppsala University, University of Highlands and Islands 'This book is a welcome contribution to the thriving historiography of slavery in the Middle Ages... Janel M. Fontaine provides a different perspective by comparing the 'slaving zones' of the British Isles with those of the Czech lands... With her rewarding, comparative case study approach, Fontaine has given us a productive model for further research.'James R. Burns, Early Medieval Europe, 2025'This monograph is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on the challenging and important topic of slavery in early medieval Europe. Janel Fontaine makes slaving (= 'slave trading') central to her study, albeit as the axis of exposition that also informatively addresses essential correlates such as methods of enslavement and the rand of conditions in which slaves lived.'John Hines, The Antiquaries Journal, 2025