What is “teleological determinism”?
To massively generalise, teleological determinism in this context refers to the concept that the universe and historical events happen as a result of pre-ordered and inevitable rules, as opposed to free will. If you’re really interested, you can have a look at the Stoics (I once had to as part of my university philosophy course and I don’t recommend it). I think what might be relevant for you in terms of this book is that most historians of this period (which is 500 – 1000 AD) have tended to see the culture, laws and politics of the early European states as predominantly Roman in nature. This is partly because a lot of the early work on this period was done by French historians and France was more thoroughly Romanised than almost any other European state. Julia Smith tries to present a view that stresses the influence of pre and post-Roman cultural norms as well, so it’s a mixture rather than one dominant factor (ie comparative ethnography). She also seeks to re-balance the significanc
