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The Age of Faith: A History of Medieval Civilization-Christian, Islamic, and Judaic-From Constantine to Dante : A.D. 325-1300 (The Story of Civilization, 4) (Vol 4)

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If you have never had the pleasure -- and good
fortune -- to discover Will Durant and this series
on THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION, then prepare yourself
for insight, enrichment, and cultural nurturing.
Few sources concerning history and culture, with
a strongly philosophical underpinning, can enlighten
as does this series.
Each volume in the series is subdivided into
a number of BOOKS, and each of these subdivisions
is further subdivided into Chapters of various
sections. But the flow, interest, and detail are
on-going, clear, and stimulating. These are volumes
not only for scholars but also for general readers
yearning -- longing -- to understand the flow and
interactions of history, culture, and thought.

This volume is number 4 in the series. The Books
into which it is subdivided are: "The Byzantine
Zenith: A.D. 325-565" -- "Islamic Civilization:
A.D. 569-1258" -- "Judaic Civilization: A.D. 135-
1300" -- "The Dark Ages: A.D. 566-1095" -- "The
Climax of Christianity: A.D. 1095-1300".
This volume opens with the Chapter on "Julian
the Apostate" and closes with a lengthy chapter
on "Dante: 1265-1321." That is certainly an
interesting span, not only in time, but in
personality and focus, as well.
The Chapter (38) leading into the Chapter on
Dante (39) is a wondrous, interesting presentation
of "The Age of [Medieval] Romance: 1100-1300."
It includes sections titled: The Latin Revival;
Wine, Women, and Song; The Rebirth of Drama;
Epics and Sagas; The Troubadours; The Minnesingers;
The Romances; The Satirical Reaction. There are
excellent excerpts from some of the types, as
well as intriguing discussion of how the types
evolved, interacted, and interfused. Here is
an example of the presentation from "The Romances":
"But in romance the middle class had already
captured the field. As aristocratic troubadours
and TROVATORI wrote delicate lyrics for the
ladies of sourther France and Italy, so in
northern France the poets of humble birth --
known to the French as trouveres, or inventors --
brightened the evenings of the middle and upper
classes with poetic tales of love and war.
The typical compositions of trhe trouveres
were the BALLADE, the LAI, the CHANSON DE GESTE,
and the ROMAN."

Durant proceeds to talk about Marie de France
and gives one of her entire lyrics in the text.
He then goes on to discuss the CHANSONS DE GESTE
and their successors, the ROMAN (or Romances).
There are excellent sections on the writers
Walther von der Vogelweide, Chretien de Troyes,
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Gottfried of Strasbourg,
and Hartmann von Aue. This chapter serves as a
excellent, rich, historical and cultural background
for the chapter on Dante which follows.
The chapter on Dante is divided into the sections:
The Italian Troubadours; Dante and Beatrice; The
Poet in Politics; and a final full and rich section
on THE DIVINE COMEDY, itself. One excerpt from the
text cannot be passed by, without quotation:
"In the epic of Dante's life, his exile was
his hell, his studies and his writings were
his purgation, his hope and love were his
redemption and his only bliss. Virgil, who
guides Dante through hell and purgatory stands
for knowledge, reason, wisdom, which can lead
us TO the portals of happiness; only faith
and love can lead us IN."

Wondrous, incredible, satisfying...

History and its study has always been a daunting task, both in terms of the length of time it takes a reader to assimilate the knowledge of a particular period of history, and also the painstaking attention to detail that the historian must engage in. The gravitational pull on this book is appreciable, as is the case for most books on history, but for the person curious about the events of 300-1300, events that still have a major influence on the present, it is well worth the time needed for its perusual. The authors are sometimes cynical in their appraisal of these times, and one can detect a measure of hostility towards religion in their writing, but their style of writing is both interesting and at times very entertaining, and it certainly keeps the readers attention.

One can disagree of course in labeling a particular period in history as "The Dark Ages" solely on the basis of a personal belief that the ideas of that time do not meet certain criteria of "enlightment". The authors do label the period AD 566 - 1095 as the Dark Ages, but they do so not only from the standpoint of the intellectual climate of the time, but also from an economic one. That progress was not occurring during that time at a rate that it was capable of, is the message implicitly given by the authors.

The book takes on through a time period that saw the rise of figures whose ideas are held by most of today's populations. The rapid rise of Islam via the personage of Mohammed, the struggles of the Jewish people, and the rise of the Holy Roman Empire are brilliantly detailed by the authors. The Koran, the Talmud, and the Bible all coexisted, the beliefs expressed in these books had considerable overlap, and the tension between them has endured till now. One should not however conclude that this tension has always been a detriment to humankind. Most of the readers of these books, a considerable majority in fact, have never engaged in violence or deliberate conflict. The wars brought about by a small minority, who claim special status in their interpretation of the contents of these books, should not lead to a hasty conclusion that the rare perturbations that wars make to history are in fact all of history itself.

All peoples in the present time owe much to the efforts of those in the period discussed in the book. Modern science has its roots of course in ancient Greece, but it took Islamic scholars, with their efforts to translate the works of the Greeks, particularly Aristotle, to set the stage for science. The authors introduce us to Averroes, the 12 century "Stagrite" and scholar; to Muhammed ibn Musa of the 8th century, one of the great mathematicians of his time , giving us algebra, the latter term coined by the Arabs; to Abu Hanifa, a 9th century botanist/pharmacologist, and to many other Arabic/Islamic seekers and purveyors of wisdom. An entire chapter is devoted to the brilliant Christian scholar/philosopher/rationalist Abelard, who set the stage for the Scholastic philosophy of Lombard and Thomas Aquinas. The reader also is introduced to the Jewish scholar Maimonides, his philosophy and his "Glossary on Drugs". Clearly, the age of faith had its share of brilliance.

The age of faith should thus be seen as an age of discovery as well as prayer. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scholars were laying the foundations of knowledge as well as propagating their faith. This superposition of faith and reason continues in our day, and shows no sign of being abated. In this regard, this book is almost like a chronicle of our own time. We now have computers, genetic engineering, robotics, and space travel; but we also have churches, synagogues, tabernacles, temples, and mosques. The history of our own time, and that described in this book, could thus be viewed as a mere change of names and dates. The goals in both time periods are the same: the unrelenting quest for new knowledge and the reaching out for something intangible and beyond ourselves.

Will Durant uses history as a vehicle for espousing his materialistic philosophy. He seems to have never met a skeptic, cynic, or doubter that he didn't like. In his view of Islam, Judaism, and Christanity, it appears to me his favorite is Islam. His least favorite is Christianity. He operates from the assumption that people created their own religions and borrowed what they liked or disliked based on such variables as the climate in which they lived. Pretty superficial reasoning I'd say.

His interpretive commentaries are largely mumbo jumbo. He rambles as if he is a wise man who knows truth because he is a materialist and all these ancient people were blinded because they believed in things beyond the physical realm. If one were to infer an underlying tone to his book, it could be, "if you're really intellectual like me, you're a cynic who doesn't believe in any of this religious stuff." That the framework from which his analyses are made.

With that established the book has some value. It provides detail of the various personalities and issues covered. Some key historical figures are described at length. Durant is a gifted storyteller, but as a reviewer I'm suspicious here. It seems he's more interested in entertaining than conveying facts at times. That's why I would seek a verifying source if I really had doubts about something controversial he says occurred.

Read and compare. This is another voice in the human chorus. Just keep in mind he's coming from his worldview, which he doesn't even attempt to hide. Take it for what it's worth, one man's spin on history.