Medieval Lives: Eight Charismatic Men and Women of the Middle Ages

Norman Cantor admits that he creates the dialogue in the various chapters of various famous people such as Augustine of Hippo, John Duke of Bedford and other famous intellectuals and nobles. Still, the short stories are fascinating and give you an idea of what and how the "thinkers" of various times may have viewed the issues of their days. Yes, the book has its quirks, but it's a book to educate and inform about great minds of the past.

This book by respected medievalist historian Norman Cantor is necessarily a very controversial one. I think its aim is to give the lay reader information about what the intellectual discussions were about at every stage of the history of the Middle Ages, from a point of view that is understandable by non-specialists. So, clearly the book is not intended for readers with a deep knowledge and understanding of the subject, but for people curious to learn the basic facts and debates of each age concerned. The book portraits the lives of eight distinguished persons, conveying imaginary dialogues between them and the people who surrounded them. Cantor uses every conceivable advantage of hindsight, and so, deliberately, he falls into anachronisms, like people calling their own time "the Middle Ages", and applying terms and concepts that would only appear much later (like the term "Renaissance"). This has brought him many criticisms, accurate ones, but I think oblivious to the nature of the book. Cantor's purpose seems to be not to actually depict with accuracy his characters and situations, but to illustrate the reader about which were the most important debates at every stage, with a language and words accesible for us. And I think he achieves his aim with a sense of humor and clarity. The eight principal characters, as well as their interlocutors, are most interesting: Helena Augusta, the Jewish ex-prostitute who became the mother of Emperor Constantine, who sustains a conversation, at an inn in Palestine, with Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea, one of the first historians of Christiantiy, and with the Greek host and a Jewish tradesman. Then St. Augustine discusses with a Donatist friend about the dilemmas of the Church at the time: universality (inclusion of sinners into the Church) vs. purity (the Church as an exclusive club of saints). The third chapter is about Alcuin of York, on the same dilemma in a different context. Moving forward in time, Humbert of Lorraine talks about State-Church relations, stressing the need to free the Church from the reign of the Sacred Roman-Germanic Empire. Eleanor of Aquitaine, about the situation of women in society and Church, the same subject upon which later Hildegard from Bingen would think (and act). Robert Grosseteste, the founder of Oxford University, about corruption in the Papacy and the option of Popular Church as an alternative. Finally, a roundtable presided over by John of Bedford, Henry V's brother (after the latter's victory over the French) and British Regent of France, about the renaissance of classical Greco-Roman culture vs. Medieval English culture, plus the role of the Rule of Law. I found it to be an excellent and readable introduction to the culture of the Middle Ages.

This book can be boring at times, but truly, it makes you think. If you can stay with it long enough to grasp the whole opinions of the characters and how they relate to the person's position and time period, it can often be quite shocking. Alot of in depth thought is required, you cannot expect it to be an easy read for one who does not really want to think.

This is an amazing way of having this period come alive. A great book for people interested in religion, humanism, or just this time period. It's a great read.

Though sometimes the author takes a little artistic liberty by having his medieval people discuss modern-sounding topics such as anti-Semitism, this book was a great read! I finished it in less than 5 days and enjoyed every second that I was engrossed in the book. I found myself transported back to the Middle Ages and felt as if I was the one conversing with the historical figure. You can't go wrong with this little gem!