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Slave trading in the Early Middle Ages
Long-distance connections in northern and east central Europe
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Janel M. Fontaine
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
This book examines slave trading in northern and eastern central Europe from the seventh century through the eleventh century, tracing its growth, climax, and decline. Demand from the Islamic world in the ninth and tenth centuries prompted changes in warfare, trade logistics, and administrative responses to slavery in the slaving zones centred on the British Isles and the Czech lands. This study establishes slave trading as a core driver of connectivity and presents a model for this practice in politically fragmented areas of Europe.
Author / Editor information
Janel M. Fontaine is an archaeologist in the public sector and an Affiliate Researcher at the University of Glasgow.
Reviews
'Janel M. Fontaine has in her book, Slave Trading in the Early Middle Ages: Long-Distance Connections in Northern and East Central Europe, presented us with an important study regarding slavery and slave trading in medieval Europe. The book presents both a good and up-to-date summary of the human abomination called slavery and unfreedom, as well as--and here lies the great merit of her work--a discussion of slavery and slave trading in eastern Europe, especially in and around the Czech lands, comparing what we find here with what we understand of slavery and slave trading in England and the British Isles. This is an important book for our understanding of slavery in early medieval Europe.'
Stefan Brink, University of Cambridge, Uppsala University, University of Highlands and Islands
'This book is a welcome contribution to the thriving historiography of slavery in the Middle Ages... Janel M. Fontaine provides a different perspective by comparing the 'slaving zones' of the British Isles with those of the Czech lands... With her rewarding, comparative case study approach, Fontaine has given us a productive model for further research.'
James R. Burns, Early Medieval Europe, 2025
'This monograph is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on the challenging and important topic of slavery in early medieval Europe. Janel Fontaine makes slaving (= 'slave trading') central to her study, albeit as the axis of exposition that also informatively addresses essential correlates such as methods of enslavement and the rand of conditions in which slaves lived.'
John Hines, The Antiquaries Journal, 2025
Stefan Brink, University of Cambridge, Uppsala University, University of Highlands and Islands
'This book is a welcome contribution to the thriving historiography of slavery in the Middle Ages... Janel M. Fontaine provides a different perspective by comparing the 'slaving zones' of the British Isles with those of the Czech lands... With her rewarding, comparative case study approach, Fontaine has given us a productive model for further research.'
James R. Burns, Early Medieval Europe, 2025
'This monograph is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on the challenging and important topic of slavery in early medieval Europe. Janel Fontaine makes slaving (= 'slave trading') central to her study, albeit as the axis of exposition that also informatively addresses essential correlates such as methods of enslavement and the rand of conditions in which slaves lived.'
John Hines, The Antiquaries Journal, 2025
Topics
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Front Matter
i -
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Contents
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Acknowledgements
vi -
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List of abbreviations
vii -
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Maps
ix -
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Introduction
1 -
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I The economics of slave trading
17 -
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1 Slavery within the slaving zones
19 -
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2 External demand
46 -
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3 Making slaves
75 -
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II Logistics and strategies of slaving
103 -
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4 Warfare and enslavement
105 -
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5 Small-scale slave trading
143 -
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6 High-demand systems
165 -
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7 Slaving and power
201 -
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Epilogue
230 -
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Bibliography
243 -
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Index
273
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
March 11, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9781526160102
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781526160102
Keywords for this book
trade networks; slavery; state-building; Early Middle Ages; Emporia; unfreedom; warfare; Czech history; Anglo-Saxons; Vikings
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
