Thomas N Bisson Livres

The book explores the evolution of medieval assemblies, highlighting their importance prior to the rise of parliaments and Estates. It examines the dynamics of assemblies, councils, and the concept of consent, illustrating how traditional practices were reshaped by the bureaucratic developments of the Capetian monarchy following the royal conquest of Languedoc in the 13th century. This analysis reveals the complexities of governance and the transition toward more structured political systems in medieval France.

Medieval civilization came of age in thunderous events like the Norman Conquest and the First Crusade. Power fell into the hands of men who imposed coercive new lordships in quest of nobility. Rethinking a familiar history, Thomas Bisson explores the circumstances that impelled knights, emperors, nobles, and churchmen to infuse lordship with social purpose. Bisson traces the origins of European government to a crisis of lordship and its resolution. King John of England was only the latest and most conspicuous in a gallery of bad lords who dominated the populace instead of ruling it. Yet, it was not so much the oppressed people as their tormentors who were in crisis. The Crisis of the Twelfth Century suggests what these violent people—and the outcries they provoked—contributed to the making of governments in kingdoms, principalities, and towns.