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Italy and the Early Middle Ages

The Introduction situates the chapters within the frame of Chris Wickham’s own trajectory of scholarship. It emphasizes Chris’s commitment to working across national linguistic and historiographical boundaries, and outlines how the editors to arrange the chapters so that they respond not only to Chris’s more recent, pan-European studies, but also to specifics of his archival work on Tuscany, including his work on dispute settlement. The introduction highlights the problems of written records, as well as the importance of new archaeological data for examining the late Roman transition and settlement patterns. Finally, it highlights the utility of looking for comparisons, for which Chris is rightly celebrated.