E-grāmata: Mediterranean Encounters, Economic, Religious, Political, 1100,1550

Abulafia (history, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, England), in this collection of previously published essays (in English, Spanish, and Italian), focuses on the ways in which political developments and economic ones influence one another. The essays consider trade between Christians and Muslims in the 12th century, particularly between Spain and North Africa, in the Crusader States, the city of Ancona, Italy, and in the trade of the industrial arts. Subsequent sections consider the Italians' and Iberians' contribution to trade in the 13th through 15th centuries; the Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, with an essay on the place in these kingdoms of Jews and Muslims; and the political convulsions that followed the War of the Sicilian Vespers. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This third volume by David Abulafia looks at the interactions between territories, peoples and religions across the Mediterranean, and at the influence of the Mediterranean economy on the world beyond. Topics addressed are trade across the Christian-Muslim frontier; the relative importance of local and long distance trade in economic development; the policies of Frederick II and his successors towards the Jews and Muslims; and the complex political relationships within the western and central Mediterranean in the aftermath of the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers. Attention is also paid to Italian merchants and bankers as far afield as London and Southampton, and to the business affairs of Lorenzo de'Medici. Taken together, these papers present an original, Mediterranean, perspective on the economy, society and politics of central and late medieval Europe.