Salem Press

Great Lives from History: The Middle Ages
Publisher's Note

Great Lives from History: The Middle Ages, 477-1453 is the second installment in the revised and expanded Great Lives series, initiated in 2004 with Great Lives from History: The Ancient World. It will be joined by Great Lives from History: The Renaissance & Early Modern Era, 1454-1600, planned for 2005, and in successive years by volumes covering the Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century, and Twentieth Century--each two or more volumes in length. The entire series, when complete, is expected to cover more than 2,500 lives in essays ranging from 3 to 6 pages in length.

Expanded Coverage
This ongoing series is a revision of the 10-volume Dictionary of World Biography (DWB) series (1998-1999), which in turn was a revision and reordering of Salem Press's 30-volume Great Lives from History series (1987-1995). The expanded Great Lives differs in several ways from DWB:

• The original essays are enhanced by the addition of new entries covering a wider geographical area and including many more women. The coverage of each set has been increased significantly. In the current two volumes on The Middle Ages, for example, 59 new essays have been added to the original 297 for a total of 356 essays covering 361 historical figures (5 essays address closely allied pairs).

• In an effort to align coverage with curriculum, the new series provides more logical breaks between eras. For example, The Ancient World now ends at 476 C.E. (the fall of Rome), and the current two volumes on The Middle Ages consequently begin at 477 and end at 1453 (the fall of Constantinople)--as opposed to the more arbitrary 1400 in the old DWB.

• 109 regnal tables and dynastic lists have been added to enhance and supplement the text throughout, and a section of 11 maps has been added to allow students to locate all personages geographically and to place rulers dynastically.

• Essays from the original DWB on all personages falling into the new time frame are reprinted in this new series with updated and annotated bibliographies.

Scope of Coverage
The geographic and occupational scope of the individuals covered in Great Lives from History: The Middle Ages, 477-1453 is broad. Coverage is worldwide, with individuals identified with one or more of the following areas: 9 with Africa, 52 with the British Isles, 11 with the Byzantine Empire, 3 with Central Asia, 23 with China or Mongolia, 51 with France, 25 with German states, 61 with Italy, 15 with Japan, 1 with Korea, 42 with the Middle East or Persia, 16 with Russia and Central Europe, 17 with Scandinavia and the Low Countries, 9 with South or Southeast Asia, and 20 with Spain or Portugal. Only 1 individual, Itzcóatl, represents the Americas; it must be recalled that the cutoff date for this set, 1453, precluded identifiable figures who could sustain the minimum length of the essay, 1,500 words. (Figures such as Deganawida, Doña Marina, Montezuma II, Huascar, and others from the Americas are covered in Great Lives from History: The Renaissance & Early Modern Era, 1454-1600, slated to appear in 2005.)

The editors have sought to provide coverage that is broad in areas of achievement as well as geography, while at the same time including the recognized shapers of history essential in any liberal arts curriculum. Major world leaders appear here--emperors, conquerors, kings, and khans--as well as the giants of religious faith who were central to the medieval world: popes, monks, and saints who left their imprint on political as well as spiritual institutions. The set also includes figures who have received little or no attention in the past--from the seventh century queen of the Berbers Damia al-Kāhina to the eleventh century Italian gynecologist Trotula. By category, the contents include more than 120 world leaders, 56 religious figures, 38 writers, 23 artists, 20 historiographers, 16 philosophers, 13 military leaders, 8 scientists, 7 medical practitioners, 6 musicians, 4 educators, 4 explorers, 4 figures identified with the law, 4 mathematicians, 3 architects, 3 geographers, 2 patrons of the arts, 2 social reformers, and 2 linguists. Among these architects of today's civilization are 53 women of the medieval world: writers, scholars, scientists, and national leaders.

Essay Length and Format
Each essay ranges from 1,500 to 4,000 words in length (roughly 3 to 6 pages), with the majority falling in the range of 2,000 to 2,500 words. The familiar standard format offers easy access to biographical information.

Ready-reference top matter identifies the person and provides vital data:

• The essay title is the name of the individual; editors have chosen the name as it is most commonly found in Western English-language sources.

• The individual's nationality or ethnicity and occupation or historical role follow on the second line, including reign dates for rulers.

• A summary paragraph highlighting the individual's historical importance indicates why the person is studied today.

• The Born and Died lines list the most complete dates of birth and death available, followed by the most precise locations available, as well as an indication when these are unknown, only probable, or only approximate; both medieval and modern place-names (where different) are listed.

• Also known as lists all known versions of the name, including full names, given names, alternative spellings, pseudonyms, and common epithets.

• Area(s) of achievement lists all categories of contribution, from Architecture and Art through Warfare and Women's Rights.

The body of each article is divided into five parts:

• Early Life provides facts about the individual's upbringing and the environment in which he or she was reared, as well as the pronunciation of his or her name, if unusual. Where little is known about the individual's rearing, historical context is provided.

• Life's Work, the heart of the article, consists of a straightforward, generally chronological, account of the period during which the individual's most significant achievements were accomplished.

• Significance is an overview of the individual's place in history.

• Further Reading is an annotated bibliography, a starting point for further research.

• See also is a list of cross-references to essays in the set covering related personages.

• Related articles lists essays of interest in Salem's companion publication, Great Events from History: The Middle Ages, 477-1453 (2 vols., 2005).

Special Features
Several features distinguish this series as a whole from other biographical reference works. The front matter includes the following aids:

• Key to Pronunciation: a key to in-text pronunciation guidelines, in both volumes.

• Complete List of Contents: this alphabetical list of contents appears in both volumes.

• List of Maps and Tables.

• Maps: In the front matter to each volume, 11 maps displaying major regions of the world in the period 477-1453 appear grouped together for easy reference.

• Genealogical charts: Each volume also carries a group of genealogical charts for the major dynasties of the period.

The back matter to Volume 2 includes several appendices and indexes:

• Rulers and Dynasties: a geographically arranged set of tables listing major rulers and their regnal dates, covering 37 regions of the world.

• Chronological List of Entries: individuals covered, arranged by birth year.

• Category Index: entries by area of achievement, from architecture to women's rights.

• Geographical Index: entries by country or region.

• Personages Index: an index of all persons, both those covered and those additionally discussed within the text.

• Subject Index: a comprehensive index including personages, concepts, terms, events, civilizations, and other topics of discussion, with full cross-references from alternative spellings and the Category and Geographical Indexes.

In addition to the section of world maps appearing in the front matter to each volume, 171 illustrations and 114 tables supplement the text throughout.

Usage Notes
The worldwide scope of Great Lives from History resulted in the inclusion of many names and words that must be transliterated from languages that do not use the Roman alphabet, and in some cases, there is more than one transliterated form in use. In many cases, transliterated words in this set follow the American Library Association and Library of Congress (ALA-LC) transliteration format for that language. However, if another form of a name or word was judged to be more familiar to the general audience, it is used instead. The variants for names of essay subjects are listed in ready-reference top matter and are cross-referenced in the subject and personages indexes. The Pinyin transliteration was used for Chinese topics, with Wade-Giles variants provided for major names and dynasties. In a few cases, a common name that is not Pinyin has been used (for example, "Confucius"). Sanskrit words generally follow the ALA-LC transliteration rules, although again, the more familiar form of a word is used when deemed appropriate for the general reader.

Titles of books and other literature appear, upon first mention in the essay, with their full publication and translation data as known: an indication of the first date of publication or appearance, followed by the English title in translation and its first date of appearance in English; if no translation has been published in English, and if the context of the discussion does not make the meaning of the title obvious, a "literal translation" appears in roman type.

Throughout, readers will find a limited number of abbreviations used in both top matter and text, including "r." for "reigned," "b." for "born," "d." for "died," and "fl." for "flourished." Where a date range appears appended to a name without one of these designators, the reader may assume it signifies birth and death dates.

The Editors and Contributors
Salem Press would like to extend its appreciation to Professor Shelley Wolbrink, Department of History, Drury University, Editor of Great Lives from History: The Middle Ages, 477-1453. In addition, we extend appreciation to the many academicians and scholars who prepared essays for this work. Without their expert contributions, a project of this nature would not be possible. A full list of contributors and their affiliations appears in the front matter of volume 1.