The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages [Hardcover]

Norman Cantor (Editor), Harold Rabinowitz (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

From the world's most distinguished medievalist comes a lively and vivid account of the lords and ladies, saints and scholars, kings and peasants who shaped the history and culture of one of the richest and most misunderstood periods in history. In this full-color, landmark reference, Cantor and a team of scholars and experts explore the entire medieval world--from the British Isles to the Far East, and the great figures--Dante, Chaucer, Aquinas, who defined the period. >From the Crusades to the Vikings, The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages contains 600 individual entries and over 200 illustrations from world-famous collections, including the British Museum and the Morgan Library. Twenty major essays portraying the lives of Medieval luminaries, and original maps charting military campaigns and developing nations, make this the indispensable home reference for scholars and students.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As greater numbers of naysayers look forward to the collapse of civilization, perhaps it's best to see what happened last time. It turns out the Dark Ages weren't so bad--in fact, after reading through The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, you might find yourself pining for the good old days before the Renaissance. Historian Norman F. Cantor has assembled a crack team of experts to unleash their copious knowledge on our modern world; better still, Viking Press has enlisted excellent designers to present the information efficiently and even beautifully. You'll find yourself irresistibly drawn from one entry to the next (there are over 600, so leave time for browsing) as the story of the Council of Nicaea leads on to explorations of medieval Christianity and much more. Twenty longer essays on general topics provide the foundation for the rest of the Encyclopedia and make great reading on their own, but the meat of the book is in the details. Lavishly illustrated in both color and black-and-white, including artworks, maps, and timetables, this reference work looks as good on the shelf as it does on the coffee table. --Rob Lightner

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First edition. edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670100110
• ISBN-13: 978-0670100118
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a reliable sourcebook for the Middle Ages, June 26, 2002

By 

Joelline "joelline" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (Hardcover)

Supposedly, this book was put together by some of the "world's most distinguished medievalists"! One hopes not! In addition to the glaring errors of taste and judgment pointed out by some of the other reviewers, the factual errors are astonishing! One of the most egregious errors occurs on p. 138: "Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of two kings, Philip I of France and Henry I of England"!!!!! Eleanor, of course, was the wife of Louis VII of France and of Henry II of England! This kind of sloppiness is simply not acceptable in a book that purports to be by "someof the world's best medieval historians" (fronticepiece). The pictures are pretty; some of the articles are acceptable (but hardly noteworthy), but the book should be avoided at all costs by serious (or would-be) students of the Medieval Period.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Reference for the General Reader, June 3, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (Hardcover)

Pleasantly illustrated and well-written, this book will be attractive to the general reader rather than the serious student. A telling indication of the book's cheerful informality is the artful, approximate way in which the maps are rendered; they're clearly meant to convey whimsy rather than geographical exactitude. This is not to say that the book is superficial, however. My impression is that the editor and the contributors successfully achieved a proper balance between readability and depth. On top of that, each entry leaves the reader primed for more reading (quite a feat for any historian, really). I'll give you an example. I was happily surprised to find that the article on banking and commerce, a subject which ordinarily would not seem a likely candidate for compelling reading, was clearly and eloquently discussed. I came away from it feeling impressed by the sophistication of medieval bankers and tradesmen, and curious to find more specialized titles on the subject. One last thought: I have found this book to be an excellent supplement to Norman Cantor's "The Civilization of the Middle Ages".

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of facts, some questionable, and too many polemics, July 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (Hardcover)

It's hard to review an encyclopedia. But when this one arrived and I opened it at random, I landed on the article "Jews in the Middle Ages."

Here is a long (7 column) article which doesn't even mention the Crusades or a host of other events and their impact on the Jews. Instead, it goes into polemics about various Jewish ideas and people, using highly charged words such as "irrational" and "second-rate," and dismissing other major events as "ridiculously exaggerated" by using questionable arguments.

An encyclopedia needs to be more even-handed or at least more temperate in its judgments; it is meant to be a resource and a starting point, not a platform for a particular scholarly view. (And scholarship should also watch its language.) While I found other articles to be more dispassionate and informative, I still feel that I need to keep more of a sceptical eye on each piece (none of which are signed) than I would like for such a book.