The Edinburgh History of the Greeks, C. 500 to 1050 - by Florin Curta (Paperback)

About the Book

This volume traces the social, economic and political history of the Greeks between 500 and 1050.

Book Synopsis

This volume traces the social, economic and political history of the Greeks between 500 and 1050. The book adopts an interdisciplinary approach and uses archaeological evidence, as well as coins and seals, fiscal documents, medieval chronicles, and hagiographic literature to examine the development of Greek culture in the early medieval period. Several themes provide the foundation for this volume and run through the chapters; these include the Balkan context, the Social Role of the Army and the Onset of Economic Growth. Special attention is paid to the size of the economy in early medieval Greece. Both the social and the economic are privileged and analyzed together as integrally connected spheres of life, thus filling a major gap in existing literature on this period.

From the Back Cover

Winner of the Nicolae Iorga prize of the Romanian Academy, 2013 This very learned and detailed investigation represents an advance in the field. Florin Curta has undertaken an ambitious and urgently needed study of a very difficult and controversial subject and historical era... There is no comparable book. Walter Kaegi, American Historical Review Curta's attention to detail... has produced well-supported conclusions incorporating archaeological evidence into Mediterranean history, a difficult task. Jason Fossella, Bryn Mawr Classical Review Offers a completely new dimension in the history of the region by bringing together archaeological and historical research of early medieval Greece This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the economic and social history of Greece during the early Middle Ages. From the collapse of the urban economy in the early seventh century to the beginning of prosperity during the first half of the eleventh century, it examines the crucial transformations taking place in Greece during the 'Dark Ages' and the Middle Byzantine period. Preconceived ideas about ethnic identity rooted in nationalism have long hindered an adequate study of early medieval Greece. By contrast, Florin Curta adopts a wide-ranging approach which highlights the similarities and differences in the archaeological evidence associated with a range of social and ethnic groups, whose identities were much more fluid than previously imagined. Florin Curta is Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Florida

Review Quotes

A highly informative collection of both archaeological and literary data. Curta presents the reader with detailed descriptions of fortified sites, lavish grave burials and coin hoards together with literary evidence. All is framed in the wider contexts of Europe and the Mediterranean... Due to his striking knowledge of numismatic evidence, sigillography, funerary archaeology and Quellenkritik, Curta is very generous with his reader, but he also demands a lot... The significance of this book will be evident. To the attentive reader the work will be an invaluable tool for further researches.--Francesco Borri "Sehepunkte"

An excellent and useful work. Overall, this is a nuanced and useful discussion of the social and economic history of medieval Greece. The work should be praised especially for its nuanced approach to the numismatic evidence and for its incorporation of evidence from saints' lives.--Jason Fossella, Saint Louis University "Bryn Mawr Classical Review"

This very learned and detailed investigation represents an advance in the field... While the paucity of written (literary and epigraphic) sources is one challenge, Curta introduces much valuable numismatic and sigillographic evidence ... There is no comparable book.--Walter E. Kaegi, University of Chicago "American Historical Review"

This is a valuable book, both as a work of reference and as a contribution to ongoing debates surrounding what remains one of the least understood areas of medieval Europe.--Will Bowden, University of Nittingham "Medieval Archaeology"

Curta applies his considerable archaeological expertise and historical acumen to questions of ethnic identity, migrations and cultural and economic change in the earlier middle ages. While focusing on Greece, he sets developments within the broader Balkan context, challenging assumptions about Byzantium's 'Dark Age' and offering an important and original synthesis.--Jonathan Shepard, retired Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge

About the Author

Florin Curta is Waldo W. Neikirk Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Florida. He is the author of the Making of the Slavs. History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500-700 (Cambridge University Press, 2001), which won the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize of the American Historical Association in 2003. Curta also wrote Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, ca. 500-1250 (Cambridge University Press, 2006), and edited three collections of studies dedicated to such diverse themes as Eastern and East Central Europe in the early Middle Ages; barriers, borders, and ethnogenesis in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages; nomads in Eastern Europe between the sixth and the twelfth century. He is the editor-in-chief of the Brill series "Eastern and East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450" and member of Medieval Academy of America Publication Advisory Board and the Advisory Board of the Cursor Mundi series of the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.