A WORLD LIT ONLY BY FIRE ?

Question

How did Manchester’s portrayal of the

darkness of the Middle Ages differ from the view you held of the period before you read the book ?

Which examples of the darkness does Manchester portray which you found the most compelling or

convincing ?

Answer 1

Well, since Manchester is the author and the book consists of an informal history of the European Middle Ages, structured into three sections: The Medieval Mind, The Shattering, and One Man Alone. In the book, Manchester describes the Middle Ages as ten centuries of technological stagnation, short-sightedness, bloodshed, feudalism, and an oppressive Church wedged between the golden ages of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.

This is a lot of information.  Not knowing what your knowledge of the time compared to what you understand from the authors point of view, I can't answer the question.  

The Medieval Mind

It speaks to the failure of medieval Europe, writes popular historian William Manchester, that "in the year 1500, after a thousand years of neglect, the roads built by the Romans were still the best on the continent." European powers were so absorbed in destroying each other and in suppressing peasant revolts and religious reform that they never quite got around to realizing the possibilities of contemporary innovations in public health, civil engineering, and other peaceful pursuits. Instead, they waged war in faraway lands, created and lost fortunes, and squandered millions of lives. For all the wastefulness of medieval societies, however, Manchester notes, the era created the foundation for the extraordinary creative explosion of the Renaissance. Drawing on a cast of characters numbering in the hundreds, Manchester does a solid job of reconstructing the medieval world, although some scholars may disagree with his interpretations.

What do you think about the Catholic involvement in the time period?  

After describing the stage of Europe during the Middle Ages, Manchester describes the corruption of the time, which lay in the hands of the Catholic Church. The corruption started at the bottom of the hierarchical ladder, beginning with local clergymen, and rose all the way to the top where the pope delighted in inappropriate behavior. This passage is an example of the scandals the Church demonstrated:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...