Waubonsee Community College

The bright ages, a new history of medieval Europe, Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 258-278) and index

illustrationsplatesmaps

index present

non fiction

The bright ages

bibliography

1287239707

Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry

a new history of medieval Europe

A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality--a brilliant reflection of humanity itself. The word “medieval” conjures images of the “Dark Ages”—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante—inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy—writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today. The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world “lit only by fire” but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics

The Bright Ages -- Shimmering stars on the Adriatic -- The gleaming tiles of New Rome -- Dawn in Jerusalem -- A golden hen and the walls of Rome -- Sunlight on a northern field -- A towering ivory tusk -- A ship aflame on the Volga -- A golden girl in France -- The brilliant jewels of the heavenly Jerusalem -- The sun-dappled towers in a city of three religions -- Divine light reflecting off the Nile -- A radiant white hind with the antlers of the stag -- Cities on fire -- Stained glass and the smell of burning books -- Glistening snow on the Eastern Steppe -- Quiet candles and falling stars -- Stars above an octagonal dome -- The Dark Ages

adult

New history of medieval EuropeMedieval Europe