Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin History of Europe)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 400 pages
• Published by: Penguin Non-Classics February 24, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0140166645
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0140166644
• Book Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 10.6 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
As Jordan shows, the Middle Ages in Europe were indeed the best of times and worst of times. The beauties of Gothic architecture, the revivals of Latin literature, the rise of the university, the lyrical romances and chivalric chansons formed the high points of years that also witnessed famine, plague, political and religious squabbles, and the Crusades. Princeton historian Jordan (The Great Famine) marvelously weaves the many and various events of the years 1000-1350 into a splendid historical tapestry. He discusses how various European countries experienced the Middle Ages, putting to rest the notion that the era was monolithic and affected everyone the same way. The conflict between the Catholic Church and the state lies at the heart of the medieval period, and Jordan adeptly chronicles that struggle. As the monarchy gained power, the Church found that even voices within, such as monastic movements like the Franciscans and the Dominicans, sought reform. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Church found itself in a crisis that laid the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation. Jordan's magisterial survey indicates how rich and significant the Middle Ages were in forming European culture. That this is the inaugural volume in the Penguin History of Europe augurs very well for the series. Illus., maps. (On sale Jan. 27)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
A glimpse of light between early medieval chaos and a plague-infested fourteenth century, the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were an era of significant cultural and economic progress as well as the time of most of the things we traditionally associate with the Middle Ages, including Gothic cathedrals, knights, Crusades, and courtly love. Contextualizing these and other high points, this book gives a balanced, comprehensive description of Europe's first renaissance. Jordan is both concise and thorough, covering all geographic regions and supplementing his political narrative (who begot whom, who beheaded whom) with occasional discussion of cultural advances and everyday life (as well as ever-helpful genealogical tables). He is also somewhat fast moving, assuming at least a basic understanding of the most major events as he points up the underlying themes that define the High Middle Ages: the increasing power of the papacy, the effect of philosophical and violent contact with Islam, difficulty in succession, and others. The third in Penguin's eight-part series in European history is highly accessible yet academic enough to be valuable as a collegiate text. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Europe in the High Middle Ages: Penguin History of Europe (Penguin History of Europe) (Hardcover) William Chester Jordan is one of America's most prominent medieval historians. He heads the program in Medieval Studies at Princeton. His previous book, THE GREAT FAMINE, won the Haskins Medal in 2000. He has edited a multi-volume medieval history, written a medieval history for young people, as well as influential articles about France's expulsion of the Jews and about credit and women in medieval society. Jordan is a frequent speaker at symposia and conferences both in the United States and Europe. Small wonder that David Cannadine tapped him to contribute a book to Penguin's History of Europe series. Given his credentials, EUROPE IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES ought to be better than it is. The organization and writing is workmanlike. Jordan's schema divides the period first by century and then by region. This inevitably leads to repetition when the same event impacts dfferent regions and when Jordan backtracks or foreshadows events from other centuries in order to establish context. It is impossible to create a smooth narrative in such a rigid framework. The organization lends itself to spot referencing rather than reading cover to cover. Jordan may not be a prose stylist, but his writing is clear and concise. There are no footnotes nor endnotes. The "References" section is a scant four pages long and is made up mostly of secondary sources. Jordan makes an occasional historiological feint, but without any real substance. One is left feeling the book is neither fish (a serious academic history) nor fowl (a popular history for the general public). The most glaring defect in the book, for this reader, is its treatment, or rather non-treatment, of Muslim rule in Iberia and Sicily. Jordan finds time to tell us the sad story of Isaac, a Christian hermit, who persisted in reviling Muhammad in the streets of Cordoba in 852 and was executed after being warned to desist. Yet there is no mention of the Ummayad dynasty that had unified the Iberian peninsula into the Caliphate of Al Anadluz, whose officials put Isaac to death! At the beginning of the 11th Century Al Andaluz may have been the richest, was probably the most tolerant, and was certainly the most cultured region of Europe. Jordan devotes far more space to the "Reconquest" than he does to the Arabic culture and language that dominated the peninsula throughout the period covered in his book. The library at Cordoba contained 400,000 books and manuscripts at a time when the largest libary in Europe north of the Pyrenees had less than 500. Jordan begins his chapter, "The World of Learning" by connecting the start of "...a long period of renewal and creativity in Europe" to the First Crusade. In fact, the translations of classic Greek works of philosphy and science he says fueled the development of the schools of Paris and other universities came from Arabic texts translated by Muslims and Jews in Toledo at the behest of Abbot Hugh of Cluny. More than a page in the chapter on vernacular literature is devoted to the Song of Roland without noting that the chanson commemorates the retreat of Charlemagne before the armies of the first Ummayad Caliph Abd al Rahman. Jordan writes of the freebooter El Cid and "...his struggles with the Muslims", failing to mention that El Cid fought for Muslim rulers as well against them. In the extensive genealogical tables at the end of the book one finds lists of every Christian dynasty from Byzantium to Norway, but no mention of any Muslim dynasty. The first "King" of Portugal listed is Afonso I who ruled midway through the period with which the book is concerned. No earlier Muslim ruler is listed. The same thing is true of the rulers of Spain, Sicily, Tripoli, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Christian rulers of the period are listed, but nary a Muslim monarch. Jordan seems to have gone out of his way to render Muslim participation in and contribution to Europe's high middle ages invisible.