Includes bibliographical references (p. 347-382) and index
Contents:
Rye and oats : the agrarian revolution of the early middle ages -- Manor and hide : the manorial roots of European social structures -- The conjugal family and bilateral kinship : social flexibility through looser ties of descent -- The feudal system and the estates : a special path of feudalism -- The papal church and universal religious orders : Western Christendom as a highly organized religious community -- The Crusades and protocolonialism : the roots of European expansionism -- Preaching and printing : early modes of mass communication -- "Through what concatenation of circumstances -- ?" : interacting determinants of Europe's special path