Civilization of the Middle Ages

Norman Cantor's "Civilization of the Middle Ages" is a survey book that covers roughly a thousand years of European history. Dense as it was (566 pages), the sheer length covered forced Cantor to be somewhat judicious over what aspect of the Middle Ages he wants to cover.

While I would have preferred more economic history, Cantor concentrated more on intellectual and ecclesiastical history of the era. The one economic historical narrative Cantor did touch on was the process of re-urbanization and development after the chaos of the late western Roman Empire era. To that the extent Cantor took pains to connect the cause-and-effect of the "dark ages"- the late Roman era was that of economic fatigue and that the dark ages was a consequence.

What Cantor does touch on was various strains of the intellectual thought that underlined the Roman Catholic Church, and with the benefit of hindsight, draws parallels with subsequent developments. For example, The Donatist controversy of the fifth century provides a fitting bookend to the middle ages, with the Protestant reformation forming the other end in the 16th century. The Donatists' theological argument that Church officials should be above reproach while the Catholic church rejoinder that it is the position rather than the personnel that is sacred would not be a discussion alien to Martin Luther. The more things change.

Another development in medieval ecclesiastical history that bears particular relevance to the world today is the tension between reason and faith within the Church. It was the tension between Platonic theology against Aristotelian empiricism; it was the legal syllogism of the Dominicans against the emotional mysticism of the Franciscans. Cantor writes about these tensions at length. And perhaps it says as much about his and our world as it does the world of the Middle Ages.