“Europe” in the Middle Ages

Klaus Oschema is Professor in Late Medieval History at the Ruhr-University Bochum. He researches medieval concepts of social, geographic, and political order. Recent publications include Order into Action (ed., with C. Mauntel, 2022).

Oschema (Ruhr Univ., Bochum, Germany) discusses how medieval writers, intellectuals, and societal elites frequently used the term or concept Europe and what they meant by it. He concludes that usage of this term in historical context provides no roadmap for modern conceptualization of the EU....[I]t would be anachronistic to identify Charlemagne as the "father of Europe" or to characterize his empire as European. The term in the central and late medieval period followed past usage, and the crusades and Ottoman expansion occasionally prompted an equivalence of Europe and Latin Christendom. In sum: before the early modern period, any stress on religious, political, social, and cultural characteristics played a minor role whenever Europe was mentioned.

• Preface and AcknowledgementsChapter 1: Why Europe? A Concept Crossing History and PoliticsChapter 2: Foundations in AntiquityChapter 3: Moments of Transformation—Europe in the Early Middle AgesChapter 4: Europe, Christianity, or Something Completely Different? Impressions from the Central Middle AgesChapter 5: Our Last Hope? Entangling Europe and Christianity in the Late Middle AgesChapter 6: Perspectives from Outside? Byzantium and the Arabic WorldConclusion: No Roadmap for Europe—History, Politics, and the Way to Global HistoryFurther Reading