Middle Ages - a fascinating world of castles, knights, and jugglers, or a barbaric world of crusades, pyres, and witch-burnings? Both medieval images coexist in our minds. The scientific view is more sober, yet equally captivating. This historical volume explores the Middle Ages as an epoch between antiquity and modern times, highlighting its characteristics and peculiarities:

• Discussion of epochal image, concept, and boundaries
• Living conditions and world views
• Forms of community: family, house, town, dominion, cooperative
• Forms and structures of dominion: kingship, church, manor, feudal system
• Communication and culture: word, writing, symbol-oriented action
• Knowledge organization, transfer, and expansion: monastery school, university, inventions
• Spatial and social mobility.