Research Catalog

The bright ages : a new history of medieval Europe

Title

The bright ages : a new history of medieval Europe / Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry.

Author

Gabriele, Matthew

Publication

New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2021]
©2021

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 22-2485	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Perry, David M., 1973-

Description

xviii, 307 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations, map; 24 cm

Summary

A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality--a brilliant reflection of humanity itself. The word "medieval" conjures images of the "Dark Ages"--centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante--inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy--writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today. The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our man-made borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world "lit only by fire" but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics. --

Alternative Title

New history of medieval Europe
Medieval Europe

Subject

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-278) and index.

Contents

The Bright Ages -- Shimmering stars on the Adriatic -- The gleaming tiles of the New Rome -- Dawn in Jerusalem -- A golden hen and the walls of Rome -- Sunlight on a northern field -- A towering ivory tusk -- A ship aflame on the Volga -- A golden girl in France -- The brilliant jewels of the heavenly Jerusalem -- The sun-dappled towers in a city of three religions -- Divine light reflecting off the Nile -- A radiant white hind with the antlers of the stag -- Cities on fire -- Stained glass and the smell of burning books -- Glistening snow on the Eastern Steppe -- Quiet candles and falling stars -- Stars above an octagonal dome -- The Dark Ages.

Call Number

JFE 22-2485

ISBN

9780062980892
0062980890

OCLC

1287239707

Author

Gabriele, Matthew, author.

Title

The bright ages : a new history of medieval Europe / Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry.

Publisher

New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2021]

Copyright Date

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-278) and index.

Chronological Term

476-1492

Indexed Term

History of architecture & styles (Europe)

Social history (Europe)

Early & medieval history (c 0-1500) (Europe)

Added Author

Perry, David M., 1973- author.

Research Call Number

JFE 22-2485

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