The Middle Ages despite being depicted as a brutal period as embodied by the Medieval offered a number of redeeming qualities as attested by the heroic accomplishments of the people in the era paving the way for the great age of Renaissance. Thus proving, nobility knows no age. In Renaissance we saw the rise and huge concentration of talented poets, philosophers, painters, artists and reformers coupled with the most astonishing villains.
“History is not a random sequence of unrelated events. Everything affects and is affected by everything else.” Nowhere is this truer than in the Medieval. The book is set towards the end of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance roughly from 400 -1500 AD. Europe was plunged in utter chaos towards the end of the Medieval Age up to the Renaissance. The Greco-Roman Empire though was highly prominent during that time.
Christianity was at the core of the conflict because of the wrongful interpretation of the Christian dogmas by people in authority such as popes and kings. The aristocracy was characterized as flawed, greedy, incestuous and other negative depictions. Most people particularly those belonging to the lower class were ignorant, very poor, unhealthy even savage. Warlords attacked each other to increase their lands. And if that was not enough, execution was constantly implemented and death for those executed did not come swiftly. Burning at the stake, slash, beheadings and other gory and extreme measures were adopted. Martin Luther, Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolus Copernicus, Sir Thomas Moore, Erasmus were some of the elite thinkers during the time who all met untimely and gruesome death such as murder or assassinations.
Based largely on his research, Manchester was able to compile a detailed, information-rich book that plunges the readers into the medieval mind-set. The broad span of the Dark Ages to the dawn of the Renaissance which is the setting of the book provided a varied and riveting tale to the avid reader. Manchester delineates the age when invisible spirits ruled the air, when tolerance was viewed as treachery and “a mafia of profane popes desecrated Christianity.'' It does not only delve on the tough lives of ordinary people, Manchester, a Wesleyan professor of history, was able to depict the lives of great people as well whose voices still echoed to this day. Leonardo, Machiavelli, Lucrezia Borgia, Erasmus, Luther, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn fill the pages of the book. He described Martin Luther as the “the most anal of theologians . . . this derived from the national character of the Reich''. Manchester (The Arms of Krupp) focuses attention to Magellan, who disproved Christendom's belief that Europe is the center of the universe. Manchester describes the transition of the Medieval, "shackled in ignorance, disciplined by fear, and sheathed in superstition," into the Renaissance even with the famous villains such as Cesare Borgia and Torquemada. Manchester’s depiction of the Middle Ages as a time when the strong and the shrewd prospered, while the creative, the dreamer, the thinker and the unfortunate suffered, resonates even to this day.
“A World Lit Only By Fire” is an absorbing and fascinating read. Instead of arranging the sequence of events by chronological order as historical books wont to do, Manchester takes the reader through subject by subject. It begins with the author’s explanation of the Medieval mind and how it came to be. Manchester addresses every probable facet of life during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. Aside from recalling the defining moments of the time and portraying the lives of prominent people, he is able to vividly illustrate the main characteristics of the Medieval period starting from the way people dress, their eating habits, beliefs, and living conditions of all classes, ranging from peasantry to nobility. The book ends with a section dedicated to the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, telling of his voyage to travel all over the globe and how his voyages effectively quelled the erroneous Catholic dogma that promoted Europe as the center of the universe. It ushered in an era of enlightenment, changed Western man’s view of the world and proved beyond doubt that the world is round. Consequently, these changes brought an end to the medieval era and its way of thinking.
Manchester managed to deviate from the traditional way of presenting history which is narrating events in a chronological order, that is, year after year after year until the period covered is fully covered. Manchester’s “A World Lit Only By Fire” is done differently. He does not utilize the chronological order in his writing. He starts with one aspect of the Medieval period and traces its way back in time and forward until the topic is exhausted. It would have made the book utterly confusing if Manchester was not able to effectively combine and associate one event from the other. Manchester was able to present a fascinating tale of the close association of the seemingly differing aspects of the Medieval era. He himself pointed this out in the beginning of his book "each event [leads] inexorably to another, then another..." (pg. XV).
Manchester expresses his ideas in a clear and easy manner. He is also able to express his personal views on history without getting across as vicious. He may have his biases but he remains objective in presenting the facts all throughout. He has the ability to stick to details religiously which could be a factor in making his book a cut above the rest of history books.
“A World Lit Only By Fire” is comprehensive and presents history into a fantastic tale not boring narration which makes it all the more enjoyable. For those who take pleasure in learning about Europe particularly the Middle Ages, this book comes highly recommended.
Works Cited:
“A World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester.” Barnes and Noble.com. 2005. Accessed on April 7, 2006 from
“A World Lit Only by Fire : The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance - Portrait of an Age (Paperback).” Amazon.com. 2006. Accessed on April 7, 2006 from
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