Tag Archives: Middle Ages

Book Reviews

“Mysteries of the Middle Ages” by Thomas Cahill

Thomas Cahill’s book Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe is the fifth volume of his acclaimed Hinges of History series. The goal of this series is to “retell the story of the Western world as the story of the great gift-givers, those who entrusted to our keeping one or another of the singular treasures that make up the patrimony of the West.”[1] Accordingly this book sought not so much to document historical events as to introduce the reader to the complex world of the Middle Ages and tell the story of how the “combined sources of Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman cultures”[2] shaped our modern culture.

            Rather than starting at the beginning of the Middle Ages, Cahill begins with a Prelude focused on late antique Alexandria, Egypt, before moving into an Introduction that bridged the gap between the antique and medieval periods. While this beginning seems odd and very circular, it helps the reader understand “by contrast: how different are the seeds from the soil that nourished them, how splendid will be the flowers compared with the seeds.”[3]

            Chapter one begins sixty-five pages into the volume with a focus on exploring the medieval fascination with female virginity. Using the life of St. Hildegard (1098-1179 C.E.) as an example, Cahill unpacks the “unassailable assumption…[that] the sacrificial virginity of exceptional religious figures…made them more Christ-like than the rest of us.”[4] Interestingly enough, Cahill follows this chapter with a chapter devoted to love and romantic desire as seen through the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204 C.E.). Though it may sound strange, the fact remains that “the pious worship of the Virgin and the adulterous worship of the lady of the manor”[5] both flourished at the same time along with a general rise in status for all women.

            Following a short intermission about the rise of Islam, Cahill dives into the world of education as seen through two rival universities. Chapter three was focused on the rise of reason and scholastic theology at the University of Paris and its effect on the wider world. Chapter four looked at the “new scientific sensibility”[6] growing at the University of Oxford. Peter Abelard (1079-1142 C.E.) and Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 C.E.) were the two gift-givers of scholastic theology at Paris while Roger Bacon (1214-1292 C.E.) lead the scientific charge at Oxford.

            In keeping with his tendency to utilize pairs, Cahill’s next two chapters explores the artistic side of the Middle Ages through art and poetry. Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337 C.E.) and his “nearly scientific quest to reproduce more exactingly in art the very things his eyes could see”[7] is the focus of chapter five. The poet of Florence, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321 C.E.), is the gift-giver of chapter six with his desire to “get things straight, the things that really matter.”[8] Though Giotto and Dante used different mediums, they both sought to capture the real world.

            Cahill summarizes the material in the book in chapter seven along with a short selection about the emptiness within the political structure of the medieval period. There was “no Roman emperor, good or bad, to bend to” nor was there a pope “to whom we need pay the slightest heed.”[9] Following this chapter there is a brief Dantesque critique on the state of the modern Roman Catholic Church in which Cahill calls the church to “return to the practices of its apostolic foundations.”[10]

            On a personal level, I found this book very informative and interesting as it helped flesh out the impersonal events (e.g. battles, wars, political power struggles) I previously studied. As an heir to the dual tradition of Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman cultures, it is always interesting to learn about the values and philosophies that have shaped my worldview and influenced my actions. 

[1] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe (New York City: Nan A. Talese, 2006), iv.

[2] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, v.

[3] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 3.

[4] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 100.

[5] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 121.

[6] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 221.

[7] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 264.

[8] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 291.

[9] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 310.

[10] Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, 316.

Book Reviews

“The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis

In the late-fourteenth century a young man from the village of Kempen named Thomas Haemerken joined a spiritual renewal movement started a few decades earlier by a Dutch scholar named Geert Groote.[1] The movement was centered around the life of Jesus of Nazareth with adherents devoting “their lives to study and to educating the world.”[2] After years of study, Haemerken, better known as Thomas à Kempis or Thomas of Kempen, would share the Christ-centered values of the movement with the everyone through one of the most famous and widely read devotional books in the world, The Imitation of Christ.[3] 

            Written in four parts, The Imitation of Christ invites the reader to “study the life of Jesus Christ” so that we may “imitate His life and habits.”[4] To that end, the first part seeks to provide the reader with instructions on how to renounce the values of the world (e.g. pride, material possessions, selfishness) in favor of spiritual soul care and formation. “The greatest wisdom,” Thomas writes, “[is] to seek the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world.”[5] Though this is not an easy message to embrace, it is one worth pursuing as in doing so we “will find peace and will experience less hardship because of God’s grace and the love of virtue.”[6]

            The second part of the book focuses on the interior life of the reader through a look at the “deeper aspects of the spiritual life, in which God illuminates our hearts with His truth.”[7] It was this selection that really caught my attention as Thomas’ words on mediation, grace, humility, and the Cross were simply powerful. It is easy to try to force oneself to follow the way of Jesus instead of dealing with the internal struggles within our souls. We are not, however, to rely upon ourselves in this journey, but rather “it is the grace of Christ…which can and does bring it about.”[8]

            Thomas shifts his writing style in part three of the book from general prose to a conversational dialogue between Jesus and his ‘disciple’ with the text alternating between the voice of Jesus and his disciple. Because of this literary device, Thomas was able to address common questions and hesitations held by his readers in a loving and humble manner. Unfortunately, I found the style distracting and hard to follow. However, others throughout history have found the style helpful as noted in the preface to this volume.[9]

            The fourth part of the book continues with the conversational dialogue previously introduced. The focus on the conversation shifts from personal soul care to the “centrality of the sacrament of Eucharist”[10] which highlights the monastic and medieval culture in which Thomas was writing. Thomas, however, doesn’t forgo his overall focus on one’s personal life. Throughout this selection about the Eucharist he continues to encourage the reader to pursue the virtues of Jesus Christ. Writing in the voice of Christ, Thomas’s encourages readers not only to “prepare devoutly before Communion” but to “carefully keep [themselves] in devotion after receiving the Sacrament.”[11]

            Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Thomas à Kempis’ Christ-centric devotional book, The Imitation of Christ. His message of spiritual formation based upon the study and imitation of Jesus of Nazareth is one that resonates within my heart. Though it is hard to look deeply inside and allow the Creator to ferret out the negative things within, it is a journey worth pursuing. Besides, as Thomas noted, “when Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult.”[12]

[1] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2008), xii-xiii.

[2] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, xii.

[3] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, xiv.

[4] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 3.

[5] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 3.

[6] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 32.

[7] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, xiv.

[8] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 50.

[9] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, xiv.

[10] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, xiv.

[11] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 153.

[12] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 42.

Book Reviews

Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey Into God, The Tree of Life, and The Life of St. Francis

Born in a small town in central Italy, Saint Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order in 1243 C.E. at twenty-six years of age while studying at the University of Paris.[1] Fourteen years later he was elected as the Minister General of the Order, a position he would retain until his death on July 15, 1274 C.E.[2] Throughout his career, Bonaventure was a prolific writer whose writings covered multiple genres including sermons, administrative writings, scholastic treatises, spiritual works, and lecture series.[3] The volume currently under review contains three of Bonaventure’s spiritual writings (The Soul’s Journey Into God, The Tree of Life, and The Life of St. Francis), which, when taken together, “offer a comprehensive picture of Bonaventure’s Franciscan spirituality.”[4]

            Bonaventure’s mystical masterpiece The Soul’s Journey Into God is the first work offered in the volume. Drawing off St. Francis’ vision of a winged Seraph, Bonaventure develops six stages of illumination (one stage per wing of the Seraph) through which “the soul can pass over to peace through ecstatic elevation of Christian wisdom.”[5] Written in seven chapters, the work serves a summa of mystical theology in that it brings together all the “major strands of Christian spirituality”[6] during the Middle Ages.

            The second work included in this volume is The Tree of Life, which is a “meditation on the life of Christ, based on the Gospel accounts of his birth, public ministry, passion, death, resurrection and glorification.”[7] The work is split into three parts focused on the mystery of Jesus’ origin, his passion, and his glorification. Within each of these parts, Bonaventure uses the image of a tree bearing twelve fruits (four fruits per part) that provide the reader with a view of the “varied states, excellence, powers, and works”[8] of Christ’s love. Taken together, these fruits will nourish the soul of the one who “meditates on them and diligently considers each one.”[9]

            The last work of Bonaventure included in this volume is his biography of St. Francis entitled The Life of St. Francis. This work was written at the “unanimous urging of the General Chapter”[10] of the Franciscan Order at their meeting in Narbonne in 1260 C.E.[11] A few years after it was completed, the General Chapter of Paris in 1266 C.E. declared it the official biography of St. Francis, cementing its position within the Order and expanding its readership.[12]  The work itself was written along a “thematic order”[13] with events placed within fifteen chapters that loosely follows Francis’ life. Within the thematic order of the book, one can detect a broad selection of nine chapters in the middle that follows the three stages of the spiritual life: purgation, illumination, and perfection.[14] While this order may conflict with the modern view of a biography, it fits within the norms of the Bonaventure day.

            Though each of the three works in this volume were interesting in their own way, I must admit that it was Bonaventure’s The Tree of Life that warmed my soul the most. I loved Bonaventure’s simple yet powerful way of waking the reader through the life of Jesus of Nazareth. As I read through the meditations, I found myself being drawn afresh into the story of Jesus. Of all the writings within this book, it is this work that I see myself coming back to time and time again. It really is a “bundle of myrrh,”[15] as Bonaventure called it, that I can hold close to my heart.

[1] Bonaventure, Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey Into God, The Tree of Life, and The Life of St. Francis, trans. Ewert Cousins (New York City: Paulist Press, 1978), 5.

[2] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 7-8.

[3] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 9.

[4] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, xx.

[5] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 54.

[6] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 20.

[7] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, xix.

[8] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 121.

[9] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 122.

[10] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 182.

[11] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 37.

[12] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 40.

[13] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 183.

[14] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 43-44.

[15] Bonaventure, Bonaventure, 119.