Arnold Benjamin. Medieval Germany, 500-1300: A Political Interpretation

Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. — 260 p.Medieval Germany 500-1300 is an interpretation of the foundation of Germany based upon the three most outstanding characteristics of the medieval polity: its division into several distinct peoples with their own customs, dialects, and economic interests from whom the later "Germans" would be drawn; the imperial ambitions to which the successive German dynasties aspired; and the structure of German kingship, which was a military, religious, and juridical exercise of authority rather than a meticulous administration based upon scribal institutions.Benjamin Arnold is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Reading.