Authors: Susan Wise Bauer
The History of the Ancient World:
From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
(W. W. Norton, 2007)
The Well-Educated Mind:
A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had
(W. W. Norton, 2003)
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child
(Peace Hill Press)
Volume I: Ancient Times
(rev. ed., 2006)
Volume II: The Middle Ages
(rev. ed. 2007)
Volume III: Early Modern Times
(2004)
Volume IV: The Modern Age
(2005)
The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease
(Peace Hill Press, 2008)
The Art of the Public Grovel: Sexual Sin and Public Confession in America
(Princeton University Press, 2008)
W
ITH
J
ESSIE
W
ISE
The Well-Trained Mind:
A Guide to Classical Education at Home
(rev. ed., W. W. Norton, 2009)
From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade
W. W. Norton New York London
Copyright © 2010 by Susan Wise Bauer
All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bauer, S. Wise.
The history of the medieval world: from the conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade / Susan Wise Bauer.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-393-05975-5
1. Middle Ages. 2. Civilization, Medieval. I. Title.
D117.B34 2010
909.07—dc22
2009038978
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
www.wwnorton.com
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.
Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT
For Ben
One
One Empire, Under God
•
The Roman empire, 312–330
Two
Seeking the Mandate of Heaven
•
China, 313–402
Three
An Empire of the Mind
•
India, 319–415
Four
The Persian Threat
•
The Roman empire, the Persian empire, eastern Africa, and Arabia, 325–361
Five
The Apostate
•
The Roman empire and the Persian empire, 361–364
Six
Earthquake and Invasion
•
The Roman empire, the islands of Britain, and the Germanic territories, 364–376
Seven
Refounding the Kingdom
•
The kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, 371–412
Eight
The Catholic Church
•
The Roman empire, 378–382
Nine
Excommunicated
•
The Roman empire, the islands of Britain, and the Persian empire, 383–392
Ten
Cracked in Two
•
The Roman empire, 392–396
Eleven
The Sack of Rome
•
The western Roman empire and the eastern Roman empire, 396–410
Twelve
One Nature versus Two
•
The eastern Roman empire and the Persian empire, 408–431
Thirteen
Seeking a Homeland
•
The western Roman empire and the Germanic territories, 410–418
Fourteen
The Gupta Decline
•
India, 415–480
Fifteen
Northern Ambitions
•
China, 420–464
Sixteen
The Huns
•
The western Roman empire, the eastern Roman empire, the Germanic territories, the lands of the Huns, Hispania, and North Africa, 423–450
Seventeen
Attila
•
The western Roman empire, the eastern Roman empire, the Germanic territories, and the lands of the Huns, 450–455
Eighteen
Orthodoxy
•
The eastern Roman empire and the Persian empire, 451–454
Nineteen
The High Kings
•
The islands of Britain, 451–470
Twenty
The End of the Roman Myth
•
The western Roman empire and the Germanic territories, 454–476
Twenty-One
The Ostrogoths
•
The eastern Roman empire and Italy, 457–493
Twenty-Two
Byzantium
•
The eastern Roman empire and the Persian empire, 471–518
Twenty-Three
Aspirations
•
China and the kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, 471–527
Twenty-Four
Resentment
•
China, 479–534
Twenty-Five
Elected Kings
•
The kingdoms of the Franks, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, and the British, 481–531
Twenty-Six
Invasion and Eruption
•
India and the southeastern islands of Sumatra and Java, 497–535
Twenty-Seven
The Americas
•
Mesoamerica, c. 500–600
Twenty-Eight
Great and Holy Majesty
•
Eastern Africa, Arabia, the Persian empire, and the Byzantine empire, 510–529
Twenty-Nine
Pestilence
•
The Persian empire, the Byzantine empire, North Africa, and Italy, 532–544
Thirty
The Heavenly Sovereign
•
The kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, and Yamato Japan, 536–602
Thirty-One
Reunification
•
China and Goguryeo, 546–612
Thirty-Two
The South Indian Kings
•
India, 543–620
Thirty-Three
Two Emperors
•
Italy, the kingdom of the Visigoths, the eastern Roman empire, the Persian empire, and Arabia, 551–579
Thirty-Four
The Mayors of the Palaces
•
The kingdom of the Franks, 558–656
Thirty-Five
Gregory the Great
•
Italy and the islands of Britain, 572–604
Thirty-Six
The Persian Crusade
•
The eastern Roman empire, the Persian empire, and various kingdoms of Slavs, Bulgars, Avars, and Khazars, 589–632
Thirty-Seven
The Prophet
•
Arabia, 590–622
Thirty-Eight
Tang Dominance
•
China, Japan, the Turkish Khaghanates, and the kingdoms of Tibet, Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla, 622–676
Thirty-Nine
The Tribe of Faith
•
Arabia, 622–642
Forty
Intersection
•
India and Sri Lanka, 640–684
Forty-One
The Troubles of Empire
•
Arabia, 643–661
Forty-Two
Law and Language
•
Italy, the Byzantine empire, the First Bulgarian Empire, and the empire of the Umayyad caliphs, 643–702
Forty-Three
Creating the Past
•
Japan, 661–714
Forty-Four
The Days of the Empress
•
China, the kingdom of Tibet, and the Eastern Turkish Khaghanate, 683–712
Forty-Five
Paths into Europe
•
The Byzantine empire, the Umayyad caliphate, the kingdoms of the Khazars, Bulgarians, and Visigoths, and the lands of the Franks, 705–732
Forty-Six
The Kailasa of the South
•
The Umayyad caliphate and India, 712–780
Forty-Seven
Purifications
•
The Umayyad caliphate, the Byzantine empire, and Italy, 718–741
Forty-Eight
The Abbasids
•
The Umayyad caliphate, the kingdom of the Khazars, and al-Andalus, 724–763
Forty-Nine
Charlemagne
•
Italy, the kingdom of the Franks, the lands of the Saxons, and al-Andalus, 737–778
Fifty
The An Lushan Rebellion
•
China, the nomadic north, and the kingdoms of Tibet, Nanzhao, Balhae, and Unified Silla, 751–779
Fifty-One
Imperator et Augustus
•
The Byzantine and Abbasid empires, the First Bulgarian Empire, Italy, and the kingdom of the Franks, 775–802
Fifty-Two
The New Sennacherib
•
The Byzantine and Abbasid empires, the First Bulgarian Empire, and the kingdom of the Franks, 786–814
Fifty-Three
Castle Lords and Regents
•
Silla and Japan, 790–872
Fifty-Four
The Triumph of the Outsiders
•
China and Silla, 806–918
Fifty-Five
The Third Dynasty
•
The Abbasid empire, 809–833
Fifty-Six
The Vikings
•
The kingdoms of the Franks, the Byzantine empire, al-Andalus, and the lands of the Rus, 813–862
Fifty-Seven
Long-Lived Kings
•
India and the southeastern islands of Sumatra and Java, 814–900
Fifty-Eight
Foreign and Domestic Relations
•
The Byzantine empire, the kingdom of Louis the German, Moravia, and Bulgaria, 856–886