Mysteries of the Middle Ages.MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES By Thomas Cahill (Doubleday, 2006) With its alluring subtitle, The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe, the latest addition to Thomas Cahill's "Hinges of History" series, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, may be accused of riding the coattails coat·tail n. 1. The loose back part of a coat that hangs below the waist. 2. coattails The skirts of a formal or dress coat. Idiom: on the coattails of 1. of The Da Vinci da Vinci Surgery A surgical robot for performing certain surgeries–eg, mitral valve repair and laparoscopic procedures–eg, cholecystectomy and gastric ulcer repair. See Laparoscopic surgery, Robotics, Surgical robot. Code. But where Dan Brown builds a thriller from a vivid historical imagination, the author of How the Irish Saved Civilization (Doubleday, 1995) produces a no less fascinating but far more enlightening trek through the Middle Ages. Cahill's basic question is simple: How did the Romans, "the military geniuses who conquered the world and crucified without remorse any troublemaker;' become the Italians, who light the Colosseum Colosseum or Coliseum (both: kŏləsē`əm), Ital. Colosseo, common name of the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, near the southeast end of the Forum, between the Palatine and Esquiline hills. every time a country abolishes its death penalty? Cahill's answer is nothing less than an apology for Europe's Catholic heritage, in which he unearths the gifts given by the great figures of medieval Europe to the modern West. Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (hĭl`dəgärth', bĭng`ən), 1098–1179, German nun, mystic, composer, writer, and cultural figure, known as the Sibyl of the Rhine. and Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine (ăkwĭtān`, ăk`wĭtān), 1122?–1204, queen consort first of Louis VII of France and then of Henry II of England. shine as forerunners of feminism. Lovers Peter Abelard and Heloise prefigure pre·fig·ure tr.v. pre·fig·ured, pre·fig·ur·ing, pre·fig·ures 1. To suggest, indicate, or represent by an antecedent form or model; presage or foreshadow: a certain equality in romantic relationships. The works of Giotto and Dante mark turning points in the history of art and literature. Cahill might be criticized for taking a "great men (and women)" approach to his subject rather than focusing on the common folk, and those he chooses are certainly well known. At the same time his lively writing and love of his subjects put them in bold relief. Despite their mythic stature, Cahill makes them believably human. Though he focuses on Catholicism's contribution to Western culture, Cahill's "postlude post·lude n. 1. Music a. An organ voluntary played at the end of a church service. b. A concluding piece. 2. A final chapter or phase. " does not shrink from criticism of today's church. His indictment is sweeping and may even seem out of place. Some will find his statements regarding the sex abuse scandal shocking. At the same time, his connection of past to present, woven more subtly into the rest of the book, reminds us once again that those who forget the past, as the saying goes, are doomed to repeat it.--Bryan Cones |
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