Western Perspectives on the Mediterranean - by Andreas Fischer (Paperback)

About the Book

A high-level scholarly collection of articles on the transmission of knowledge and culture from a Mediterranean world politically fragmented by the fall of the western Roman empire and Islamic expansion into Latin Europe, 400-800 AD.

Book Synopsis

Based on close analyses of contemporary texts, and backed by an examination of the origins of the elements transferred and of the process of transmission, the contributors to this volume focus on the perception and adaptation of knowledge and cultural elements in the West. Taking a variety of approaches, they shed light on the changing lines of communication between the Byzantine empire and other parts of the Mediterranean, on the one hand, and the Burgundian, Frankish and Anglo-Saxon realms and the Papacy on the other.

Review Quotes

"Collectively, these six essays reveal vividly that the communication routes of the early medieval Mediterranean carried not only commodities, objects of devotion, and travelers themselves, but intangible cultural products as well." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review

About the Author

Andreas Fischer is Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at the Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
Ian Wood is Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Leeds, UK.