The Uses of the Past in the Early Middle Ages (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521630016)

This volume investigates the ways in which people in the early Middle Ages used the past: to legitimate the present, to understand current events, and as a source of identity. Each essay examines the mechanisms by which ideas about the past were subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) reshaped for present purposes. As well as written histories, also discussed are saints' lives, law codes, buildings, Biblical commentary, monastic foundations, canon law and oral traditions. This is the first book to investigate systematically this important topic.

Author: Yitzhak Hen
ISBN-10: 0521630010
ISBN-13: 9780521630016
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/08/2000
Pages: 294
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.33lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.81d