Epilogue
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Janel M. Fontaine
Abstract
The epilogue concludes the book by addressing the fate of slaving after the year 1100 and outlining the model of early medieval slave trading formulated throughout the book. Slaving activity appears in source material through the first half of the twelfth century, and, although the Council of Westminster issued a blanket ban on the sale of people in England 1102, a similar decision was not reached in Ireland until 1170, and only the sale of Christians to Jews was prohibited by the Duke of Bohemia in 1124. The Welsh, Scots, and Bohemians conducted slave raids against their neighbours for decades, though at a level much reduced from the eleventh century. The imposition of Norman rule in England meant the establishment of a nobility already disconnected from slave raiding, which may have facilitated its earlier ban. The realignment of slave-trading routes to the centres of demand was the leading cause of slave trading decline in the British Isles and the Czech lands, and this trade gradually disappeared as internal markets moved away from slave labour altogether. As outlined in the second half of the epilogue, the model of early medieval slaving centres on the comparative methodology of the book to draw conclusions regarding the significance of external demand in scaling up slaving activity and the separability of these activities from local slaveholding practice. It reasserts the major changes effected by increased slaving, namely the conduct of warfare, the expansion of trade, and the reactionary attempts by rulers to exert their control over slaving and legal status. There is scope to test such a model not only on other politically fragmented areas of early medieval Europe but also on pre-modern societies globally.
Abstract
The epilogue concludes the book by addressing the fate of slaving after the year 1100 and outlining the model of early medieval slave trading formulated throughout the book. Slaving activity appears in source material through the first half of the twelfth century, and, although the Council of Westminster issued a blanket ban on the sale of people in England 1102, a similar decision was not reached in Ireland until 1170, and only the sale of Christians to Jews was prohibited by the Duke of Bohemia in 1124. The Welsh, Scots, and Bohemians conducted slave raids against their neighbours for decades, though at a level much reduced from the eleventh century. The imposition of Norman rule in England meant the establishment of a nobility already disconnected from slave raiding, which may have facilitated its earlier ban. The realignment of slave-trading routes to the centres of demand was the leading cause of slave trading decline in the British Isles and the Czech lands, and this trade gradually disappeared as internal markets moved away from slave labour altogether. As outlined in the second half of the epilogue, the model of early medieval slaving centres on the comparative methodology of the book to draw conclusions regarding the significance of external demand in scaling up slaving activity and the separability of these activities from local slaveholding practice. It reasserts the major changes effected by increased slaving, namely the conduct of warfare, the expansion of trade, and the reactionary attempts by rulers to exert their control over slaving and legal status. There is scope to test such a model not only on other politically fragmented areas of early medieval Europe but also on pre-modern societies globally.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vi
- List of abbreviations vii
- Maps ix
- Introduction 1
- I The economics of slave trading 17
- 1 Slavery within the slaving zones 19
- 2 External demand 46
- 3 Making slaves 75
- II Logistics and strategies of slaving 103
- 4 Warfare and enslavement 105
- 5 Small-scale slave trading 143
- 6 High-demand systems 165
- 7 Slaving and power 201
- Epilogue 230
- Bibliography 243
- Index 273
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vi
- List of abbreviations vii
- Maps ix
- Introduction 1
- I The economics of slave trading 17
- 1 Slavery within the slaving zones 19
- 2 External demand 46
- 3 Making slaves 75
- II Logistics and strategies of slaving 103
- 4 Warfare and enslavement 105
- 5 Small-scale slave trading 143
- 6 High-demand systems 165
- 7 Slaving and power 201
- Epilogue 230
- Bibliography 243
- Index 273
