Europe in the High Middle Ages

by William Chester Jordan

Book Overview

"The Penguin History of Europe series... is one of contemporary publishing's great projects."--New Statesman

It was an age of hope and possibility, of accomplishment and expansion. Europe's High Middle Ages spanned the Crusades, the building of Chartres Cathedral, Dante's Inferno, and Thomas Aquinas. Buoyant, confident, creative, the era seemed to be flowering into a true renaissance-until the disastrous fourteenth century rained catastrophe in the form of plagues, famine, and war.

In Europe in the High Middle Ages, William Chester Jordan paints a vivid, teeming landscape that captures this lost age in all its glory and complexity. Here are the great popes who revived the power of the Church against the secular princes; the writers and thinkers who paved the way for the Renaissance; the warriors who stemmed the Islamic tide in Spain and surged into Palestine; and the humbler estates, those who found new hope and prosperity until the long night of the 1300s. From high to low, from dramatic events to social structures, Jordan's account brings to life this fascinating age. Part of the Penguin History of Europe series, edited by David Cannadine.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140166645
• ISBN13: 9780140166644
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 382 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

In-depth and complex, yet with a most readable tone

Europe's High Middle Ages period spanned the Crusades and the events of Dante's classic writings and Thomas Aquinas: this paints a vivid picture of this lost age, surveying the great popes who revived the power of the church, the thinkers who ruled their times, and the social and religious philosophy of the era. In-depth and complex, yet with a most readable tone, this is a recommended pick.