This volume is the outcome of the concluding final conference of the research project RANK. In an interdisciplinary approach, scholars from England, Germany and France representing the fields of history, art history, archaeology and ethnology analyse how rank developed in Medieval Europe between 500 and 1500. In a total of fourteen contributions, the factors that constituted aristocratic rank and how such rank was communicated are discussed. Focusing on the Carolingian Empire, England, France and the Holy Roman Empire, the essays also provide some insights into regional variations concerning the definition of rank across the centuries.

Jörg Peltzer is professor of Vergleichende Landesgeschichte in europäischer Perspektive at the University of Heidelberg. He was the Principal investigator of the research group RANK.