'This volume is a monumental achievement for which the editor and his contributors deserve thanks. The bibliographies, maps and index are excellent, and the frontispiece of the golden Augustalis coin of Frederick II is stunning.' The Times Literary Supplement

• List of maps; List of tables; List of plates; Preface; Introduction David Abulafia; Part I. Common Themes: 1. Social change in the thirteenth century: (a) Nobles and knights Robert Stacey; (b) Urban society Steven Epstein; (c) Rural society Gérard Sivéry; 2. Commerce and communications Kathryn Reyerson; 3. The vernacular Colin Smith; 4. Thirteenth-century art and architecture Paul Binski; Part II. The Church in the Thirteenth Century: 5. The papacy in the thirteenth century J. A. Watt; 6. The Albigensian Crusades and heresy Bernard Hamilton; 7. The Church and the laity André Vauchez; 10. The universities and scholasticism Jacques Verger; Part III. The Western Kingdoms: 11. The Capetians from Philip II to Philip IV William Chester Jordan; 12. The Plantagenet kings David Carpenter; 12 The kingdom of Burgundy, the lands of Savoy and adjacent territories Eugene Cox; 13 (a) Welfs, Hohenstaufen and Habsburgs in Germany, 1197–1308 Michael Toch; (b) Flanders in the thirteenth century Wim Blockmans; Part IV. Italy: 15 Northern Italy: (a) The maritime republics John Pryor; (b) Sardinia and Corsica from the mid-twelfth to the early fourteenth century Marco Tangheroni; (c) The rise of the signori Trevor Dean; (d) Florence Louis Green; 16. The kingdom of Sicily under Hohenstaufen and Angevin rule David Abulafia; Part V. The Mediterranean Frontiers: 17. Byzantium after the Fourth Crusade: (a) The Latin empire of Constantinople and the Frankish states in Greece David Jacoby; (b) The Greek rump states and the recovery of Byzantium Michael Angold; 18. The Crusades: (a) The thirteenth-century crusades in the Mediterranean Norman Housley; (b) The Crusader states and Cyprus Peter Edbury; 19. Islam and the Mediterranean: (a) The rise of the Mamluks Robert Irwin; (b) The Maghrib Michael Brett; (c) The Nasrid kingdom of Granada David Abulafia; 20 The rise of Aragon-Catalonia David Abulafia; 21. Castile, Portugal and Navarre Peter Linehan; Part VI. The Northern and Eastern Frontiers: 22. The Mongols and Europe Peter Jackson; 23. Scandinavia and the Baltic border: (a) The Scandinavian kingdoms Sverre Bagge; (b) The military orders in the Baltic Michael Burleigh; 24 Eastern Europe: (a) The central European kingdoms S. C. Rowell; (b) Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria Alain Ducellier; (c) Russia Simon Franklin; 25. The Celtic lands Robert Bartlett; Bibliography; Index.