Europe in the High Middle Ages (The Penguin history of Europe) - Hardcover

William Chester Jordan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713990848 ISBN 13: 9780713990843

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2001

Synopsis

The world of mediaeval Europe continues to haunt us: its great works of art, its cathedrals and castles, many of its institutions - and yet this is a civilization from which we are fundamentally cut off. The uniquely terrible "fire break" of the 14th century - the famines, plagues and wars -meant that the Europe that slowly built itself in the 15th century was a very different place from the brilliant, confident world that had built Chartres cathedral or summoned up the passion for the Crusades. In what should become the standard work on the subject, Professor Jordan re-creates the values and achievements of this lost world with a mixture of broad sweep and precise detail that allows readers to appreciate a society that had emerged from the chaos of the Viking, Hungarian and Muslim invasions and soon began to measure itself confidently against the lofty achievements of the ancient Roman Empire. Above all, Europe in the High Middle Ages was a fervently Christian society and it was the power and ambition of the Church, and the extensive support it enjoyed, that provided the great motor for dynamic and aggressive innovation that marks the era.

About this title

About the Author

William Chester Jordan is Professor of History at Princeton University and is the author of THE GREAT FAMINE.

Review

"Jordan marvelously weaves the many and various events of the years 1000-1350 into a splendid historical tapestry. That this is the inaugural volume in the Penguin History of Europe augurs very well for the series."

aJordan marvelously weaves the many and various events of the years 1000a1350 into a splendid historical tapestry. That this is the inaugural volume in the Penguin History of Europe augurs very well for the series.a ("Publishers Weekly") aA splendid start to Penguinas History of Europe series . . . [Jordan] writes elegantly and ironically, giving the reader a broad, but not dumbed down view of medieval society and its complexities.a ("Kirkus Reviews," starred review)

Jordan marvelously weaves the many and various events of the years 1000 1350 into a splendid historical tapestry. That this is the inaugural volume in the Penguin History of Europe augurs very well for the series. ("Publishers Weekly") A splendid start to Penguin s History of Europe series . . . [Jordan] writes elegantly and ironically, giving the reader a broad, but not dumbed down view of medieval society and its complexities. ("Kirkus Reviews", starred review)

?Jordan marvelously weaves the many and various events of the years 1000?1350 into a splendid historical tapestry. That this is the inaugural volume in the Penguin History of Europe augurs very well for the series.? ("Publishers Weekly") A splendid start to Penguin's History of Europe series . . . [Jordan] writes elegantly and ironically, giving the reader a broad, but not dumbed down view of medieval society and its complexities.? ("Kirkus Reviews," starred review)"

Edition details

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0713990848
• ISBN 13: 9780713990843
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400