I've been a fan of most of Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History series particularly How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Gifts of the Jews and Desire of the Everlasting Hills.However, I was not a fan of Sailing the Wine Dark Sea (about the ancient Greeks) which is his penultimate work in the series. Bogging down after reading the first 100 pages, I gave it away to Portia, my classical civilization scholar. So I was hopeful and excited when I saw that his latest work was about the European Middle Ages--which is a period of history that has always intrigued me.
I finished reading Mysteries of the Middle Ages this weekend, and found that while it wasn't as unreadable as Sailing the Wine Dark Sea it is not nearly as well-written as his two best books in the series--The Gifts of the Jews and Desire of the Everlasting Hills. Both of those books focused on a single theme throughout, giving the ideas presented by Cahill a powerful impact.
Not so with Mysteries, which tries to cover too many themes and muddles them up. The subtitle hints at the problem: The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe. All in just 317 pages, including vivid illustrations and excluding the notes. I never did figure out what Cahill meant by the term "cults of Catholic Europe". The Cathars? The Lollards? The Franciscans? The Dominicans? Maybe he didn't write the subtitle.
It's quite a jump between the first chapter that discusses Alexandria, Egypt as the "prelude" to the medieval period in Europe and the last chapter, called a "postlude" in which Cahill states that Mysteries is about the "often overlooked and belittled Catholic contribution to Western Civilization" and decries the present-day "priestly pedophilia crisis" in the Catholic Church and calling for a return to optional celibacy in its priesthood as in the days of the early middle ages. The conclusion of the book doesn't seem to relate to the rest of it.
The book is too small to be a coffee table art book, but it is produced in that style. The first page of each chapter is printed in a faux-illuminated script font. There are numerous full color illustrations of medieval art and graphs and charts included that are designed in medieval style. It is a beautifully designed and published book.
There are some interesting things in Mysteries. The chapters about Hildegard of Bingen and Queen Eleanor of Aquitane were particularly lively. If you're not familiar with these two historical figures, this is a good introduction to them and to their stories. Four of the chapters focus on Italian cities: Rome, Padua, Florence and Ravenna. Cahill is an unabashed Italophile.
I don't think the book succeeds in making the case that feminism, modern science and art derive from Catholic Europe in the Middle Ages, except in a very broad sense because he doesn't fully develop his theses.
On the whole, I can't recommend this book unless you are a die-hard Thomas Cahill fan.
UPDATE: Denis Hancock emailed me to point out that comments were not enaabled on this post. My bad! I must have inadvertently turned them off. Comments are enabled now!
Not so with Mysteries, which tries to cover too many themes and muddles them up. The subtitle hints at the problem: The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe. All in just 317 pages, including vivid illustrations and excluding the notes. I never did figure out what Cahill meant by the term "cults of Catholic Europe". The Cathars? The Lollards? The Franciscans? The Dominicans? Maybe he didn't write the subtitle.
It's quite a jump between the first chapter that discusses Alexandria, Egypt as the "prelude" to the medieval period in Europe and the last chapter, called a "postlude" in which Cahill states that Mysteries is about the "often overlooked and belittled Catholic contribution to Western Civilization" and decries the present-day "priestly pedophilia crisis" in the Catholic Church and calling for a return to optional celibacy in its priesthood as in the days of the early middle ages. The conclusion of the book doesn't seem to relate to the rest of it.
The book is too small to be a coffee table art book, but it is produced in that style. The first page of each chapter is printed in a faux-illuminated script font. There are numerous full color illustrations of medieval art and graphs and charts included that are designed in medieval style. It is a beautifully designed and published book.
There are some interesting things in Mysteries. The chapters about Hildegard of Bingen and Queen Eleanor of Aquitane were particularly lively. If you're not familiar with these two historical figures, this is a good introduction to them and to their stories. Four of the chapters focus on Italian cities: Rome, Padua, Florence and Ravenna. Cahill is an unabashed Italophile.
I don't think the book succeeds in making the case that feminism, modern science and art derive from Catholic Europe in the Middle Ages, except in a very broad sense because he doesn't fully develop his theses.
On the whole, I can't recommend this book unless you are a die-hard Thomas Cahill fan.
UPDATE: Denis Hancock emailed me to point out that comments were not enaabled on this post. My bad! I must have inadvertently turned them off. Comments are enabled now!
I liked this book because it did give such a varied overview. The point of the book was to be the midpoint between his ancient world and modern world books in the Hinges of History series. I thought it did a good job of demonstrating the currents that led to that transition.
ReplyDeleteI read it in January and at the time thought it was just an enjoyable read. I have since come back to the stories in the book in a number of conversations regarding feminism, faith, and art.
But I still didn't like it as much as How the Irish Saved Civilization.