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Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe
by Thomas Cahill
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Nan A. Talese (2006-10-24)
ISBN: 0385495552
EAN: 9780385495554
Dewy Decimal #: 909.07
Hardcover: 368 pages
Release Date: 2006-10-24
SKU: 08070225
Condition: Like New Like New
Comments: Hardcover. First Edition, First Printing. Like new cover and text. Like new dust jacket with very minor shelfwear. Near Fine condition. Beautiful book.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today.
By placing the image of the Virgin Mary at the center of their churches and their lives, medieval people exalted womanhood to a level unknown in any previous society. For the first time, men began to treat women with dignity and women took up professions that had always been closed to them.
The communion bread, believed to be the body of Jesus, encouraged the formulation of new questions in philosophy: Could reality be so fluid that one substance could be transformed into another? Could ordinary bread become a holy reality? Could mud become gold, as the alchemists believed? These new questions pushed the minds of medieval thinkers toward what would become modern science.
Artists began to ask themselves similar questions. How can we depict human anatomy so that it looks real to the viewer? How can we depict motion in a composition that never moves? How can two dimensions appear to be three? Medieval artists (and writers, too) invented the Western tradition of realism.
On visits to the great cities of Europe—monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable Florence of Dante and Giotto—Cahill brilliantly captures the spirit of experimentation, the colorful pageantry, and the passionate pursuit of knowledge that built the foundations for the modern world. Bursting with stunning four-color art, MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES is the ultimate Christmas gift book.
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Customer Reviews
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Interesting Read
Rating  (3)
Date: 2009-01-06
I found this book to be very interesting. If you enjoy historical mysteries, you'll really enjoy it.
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Greek matrix populated by Judeo-Christian content
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-08-15
This book is greatly readable as are all of Cahill's "Hinge of History" series (this the fifth), but less satisfying to me than the others. In this entry Cahill ties together the roots of history from
--Judaism (The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Hinges of History)),
--Jesus (Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus (Hinges of History))
and
--Greece (Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter)
as preserved by the Irish (How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History).
As Cahill summarizes in conclusion, Western civilization is a Greek matrix populated by Judeo-Christian content.
In the leap from Roman times to the High Middle Ages of the 12th and 13th Century, Cahill must cover so much territory that this books feels more like a rushed survey than the deeper but still accessible studies of the earlier books. In addition, because the sequence of the books has not been strictly chronological, Cahill must (especially early on) make frequent footnote references to the earlier books, a technique as confusing and potentially distracting as a movie told in out-of-sequence flashbacks.
But this book is like the others well and purposefully illustrated, and Cahill's ability to phrase old events and idea in living language enables fresh light to dawn on long-dark events. My favorite bit from this book is an English Carol (uncertain of date, but probably from the time period of this book)) called "My Dancing Day", as Cahill writes
"a love story in which Christ the Lord seeks out Mankind his Beloved in order to welcome human beings back into 'the general dance', the fantastic, if hidden, harmony of creation. In a searching theological exposition, such a thought might not appear simple, but here it is presented as if in a child's picture book."
1. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day;
I would my true love did so chance
To see the legend of my play,
To call my true love to my dance;
Chorus
Sing, oh! my love, oh! my love, my love, my love,
This have I done for my true love1
2. Then was I born of a virgin pure
Of her I took fleshly substance
Thus was I knit to man's nature
To call my true love to my dance. Chorus
3. In a manger laid, and wrapped I was
So very poor, this was my chance
Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass
To call my true love to my dance. Chorus
4. Then afterwards baptized I was;
The Holy Ghost on me did glance,
My Father's voice heard from above,
To call my true love to my dance. Chorus
5. Into the desert I was led,
Where I fasted without substance;
The Devil bade me make stones my bread,
To have me break my true love's dance. Chorus
6. The Jews on me they made great suit,
And with me made great variance,
Because they loved darkness rather than light,
To call my true love to my dance. Chorus
7. For thirty pence Judas me sold,
His covetousness for to advance:
Mark whom I kiss, the same do hold!
The same is he shall lead the dance. Chorus
8. Before Pilate the Jews me brought,
Where Barabbas had deliverance;
They scourged me and set me at nought,
Judged me to die to lead the dance. Chorus
9. Then on the cross hanged I was,
Where a spear my heart did glance;
There issued forth both water and blood,
To call my true love to my dance. Chorus
10. Then down to hell I took my way
For my true love's deliverance,
And rose again on the third day,
Up to my true love and the dance. Chorus
11. Then up to heaven I did ascend,
Where now I dwell in sure substance
On the right hand of God, that man
May come unto the general dance. Chorus
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Historical Detours
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-05-18
I enjoyed Cahill's previous works immensely. This one is also good, taking the reader on a journey with several figures of the middle ages. THe effects of these individuals are laid out and integrated into the tale, sometimes in the languages they spoke, such as latin.
I would have appreciated more text, less illustrations, and a more cohesive structure. Similarly, Cahill injects some current politics which only serves to distract from the historical revelations.
Still a good read and a revealing text.
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Answer to ancient questions
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-04-30
Thomas Cahill went to a heck of a lot of research to be able to put together centuries of history and facts and stories to get such an organized telling of what was really happening during those dark times. Along with watching 'Da Vinci Code', I started asking myself questions, and several answers were provided while listening to Cahill's soothing voice. I really enjoyed this audio CD, and anyone interested in history that doesn't come from college books or the TV, it is a fresh, sensible approach to how we got to be where we are, and get a glimpse of where we are going. Bravo Tom!
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Slight Disappointment....
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-02-23
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I adore Thomas Cahill's other books in the Hinges of History series and I was looking forward to another great read. Unfortunately this book failed to meet the standard set by his previous work. I realise that this is Cahill's book, but his digressions serve no purpose and ruin the flow of information. Issues in present-day America, Iraq, etc, may have root in the middle ages but they have no place in even a semi-scholarly book which purports to be about the middle ages. I was sorely disappointed and I can only hope his next endeavor will be just as good as this one should have been.
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