A thorough account of the “engine rooms of medieval society.”
Not simply solitary figures.
Jotischky, professor of medieval history at the University of London, author of A Hermit’s Cookbook: Monks, Food and Fasting in the Middle Ages, writes that at the height of their influence (c. 800-1300), “monasteries provided intellectual leadership for the institutions of Church and civil government, innovation in religious thought and practice, pastoral care, medical provision, education, visual culture and agricultural development” while providing alms for the poor, hospitality for travelers, and schooling for local people. Almost as soon as Roman Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity in 312, pious individuals began devoting their lives to serving God. Avoiding individuals (“mendicants,” “anchorites”), he focuses on enclosed communities that first appeared in the eastern Mediterranean in the fourth century, most likely in Egypt. They quickly spread, becoming an indispensable feature of Christian society by the sixth century. By the 12th century, monasteries were fixed and immutable points in political culture. They were found in towns and cities as well as remote areas. Abbots and even abbesses were regular attenders at royal and aristocratic courts. Possession of property brought responsibilities and obligations to the running of political society as well as quarrels. As businesses, they were employers and sources of labor and purchasers of goods. Monks themselves were used as representatives of governments at a time when professional diplomacy did not exist. World history, from the fall of Rome to the Enlightenment, makes its appearance, but Jotischky sticks closely to his specialty. The result is perhaps more than the average reader wants to know about the founding and influence of individual monasteries as well as the origin, philosophy, and controversies of the various schools: Cistercians, Cluniacs, Augustinians, Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans.
A thorough account of the “engine rooms of medieval society.”Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9780300208566
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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