151 of 155 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enlightening to the "Dark Ages", June 22, 2000
This review is from: Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths (Paperback)
When the average person thinks about the "Middle Ages", that period from about 500 to 1500 AD commonly called the "Dark Ages", they usually have visions of gore, torture, famine and poverty. Is that a correct understanding?
Régine Pernoud, the famed French historian and archivist (1909-1999), writes that it is not. The author of numerous books about the Middle Ages, including widely acclaimed books about Joan of Arc and other women of the period, Pernoud is not afraid to express her anger and frustration with the lack of accurate teaching about the Middle Ages. She causticially notes that the "Middle Ages is privileged material: one can say what one wants about it with the quasi-certitude of never being contradicted." Although originally published in 1977 and intended for a French audience, "Those Terrible Middle Ages!" is both a helpful introduction to the real Middle Ages and a fine commentary on the importance of a sound education in history, something many Americans would be all the better for having.
Although the book (the translation?) occasionally reads awkwardly, Pernoud's ability to right the record by turning stereotypes and fallacies upside down shines through. Her major concern is that what passes for an education in history within public schools is often little more than a string of stereotypes held together by the glue of gullibility: "The Middle Ages still signifies: a period of ignorance, mindlessness, or generalized underdevelopment, even if this was the only period of underdevelopment during which cathedrals were built!" She laments that the strides made in scholarship in this area have yet to reach the general public, a situation which hasn't changed much since the 1970s, at least on this side of the Atlantic.
Pernoud's central argument is that the revival of Roman law and the infatuation with Greek and Roman culture which occurred in France and much of western Europe during the sixteenth century resulted in an eclipse, even destruction, of all that had existed between the "two periods of light: antiquity and the Renaissance. . ." The intermediate period (the "middle" age) quickly became viewed as "crude" and "dark", failing to measure up to the eternal standards of ancient Greece and Rome. For instance, in the realm of art the result was "an anathema on the Middle Ages. All that was not in conformity with Greek or Latin modeling was mercilessly rejected" and even purposefully targeted for destruction. Ironically, the great cathedrals were all built during the Middle Ages; in addition, the literary forms of the epic and the novel were both products of the same era, as well as the bound book ("codex"), which replaced the use of scrolls.
Yet the facts show again and again that the Middle Ages, far from being completely ignorant or dim-witted, produced scholars of astounding learning such as Isidore of Seville, Bede the Venerable, Gregory of Tours and Hildegarde of Bingen. The latter, a woman, is not, as Pernoud demonstrates, an exception. Many women religious were accomplished scholars, theologians and even leaders. Just one example is Petronilla of Chemillé, an abbess who presided over convents of both women and men-at the ripe old age of twenty-two! Far from being a time when women were "oppressed" and "marginalized", the Middle Ages witnessed an amazing flowering of the feminine in the Church, society and home. It was no coincidence that the MIddle Ages also witnessed a remarkable growth in devotion to the Virgin Mary and other female saints. It was in the seventeenth century that women began to lose privileges and authority, essentially reverting to the status of property under the revived Roman Law. A similar situation occurred with slavery, which had died out during the Middle Ages but emerged again with the "colonial expansion that characterized the classical period." As Pernoud takes pains to show, the feudal system was a far cry from slavery-despite modern misconceptions--and was a way of life built upon honor, specific rights and a deep commitment to the agrarian life.
Pernoud also addresses the two issues most commonly mentioned in ordinary conversation about the Middle Ages: the Crusades and the Inquisition. The former she touches on much too briefly; her examination of the latter emphasizes historical context and provides a general overview of that context, especially the role of the Cathars and dualism, but one wishes she would have spent far more time on both subjects, especially since they are so misunderstood and such a significant part of the faulty perspectives people have about the Middle Ages. The last two chapters are worth the price alone, excellent essays focused on the necessity of studying and appreciating history because, as Pernoud remarks, "History does not furnish any solutions, but it permits--and it alone permits--us to pose the problems correctly. Now everyone knows that a problem posed correctly is already half solved . . . There is no true knowledge without recourse to history."
This volume is certainly a fine "recourse to history" and while not perfect, is a excellent, popular introduction to an era that is unfairly maligned and under-appreciated.
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47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rousing defense of the Middle Ages, November 9, 2003
This review is from: Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths (Paperback)
Regine Pernoud stoutly defends this most maligned of historical periods in this splendid book. She clearly shows how mistaken are the ideas about the middle ages as a period of ignorance and superstition. She writes eloquently about the glories of the middle ages, the wonderful cathedrals and abbeys, illuminated manuscripts, music and poetry. She shows how nonsensical is the myth of the 'renaissance' the alleged rediscovery of classical learning. The peopleof the medieval period were quite familiar with classical authors, they simply didn't feel the need to copy them slavishly, unlike the people of the supposedly enlightened period that followed. Nor was the Middle Ages a period of static social order, as she points out, the son of goatherds became a Pope. A very revealing passage describes how the old medieval mystery plays, performed by the guilds, were outlawed due to the jealousy of the professional theatre, actors disliked the idea of 'common people' being allowed to act for the benefit of other common people. The famed 'renaissance' was actually a period of regression, when the common people were deprived of liberties they had enjoyed in previous centuries, and the position of women in particualr became very much more restricted due to the influence of classical misogyny. This is a terrific book, take advantage of Amazon's offer and buy this with Women in the Age of the Cathedrals, they are both marvellous books.
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Those Terrible Middle Ages : Debunking the Myths, August 21, 2000
This review is from: Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths (Paperback)
Despite what you've learned in Western history class, the Middle Ages was not a generation lost to poverty, slavery, serfdom and plague. Regine Pernoud in Those Terrible Middle Ages gives a good short history of the culture, society, art and architectural progress during 500 to 1500.
What we hear is so little compared to the length of time that period covers - a millenium. Pernoud does a good job in explaining the Inquisition - why society allowed it to begin, how it progressed, etc., as she clarifies the role of the Catholic Church, rightly pointing out that during much of the time period the popes were hiding and trying to survive, not politically ruling the West with terror and money-grabbing hands.
The place of women and their loss of rights near the end of the Middles ages when the ruling and educational systems of society returned to the ideas of old Roman law (much of which we still live with today) was a surprising element.
You'll want to read it twice to catch all the facts.
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