Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (199 page)

10: Latin Christendom: New Frontiers (500- 1000)

The period is well served for general introductions, such as G. R. Evans,
The Church in the Early Middle Ages
(London, 2007), J. Herrin,
The Formation of Christendom
(London, 1989), F. D. Logan,
A History of the Church in the Middle Ages
(London, 2002), T. F. X. Noble and J. M. H. Smith (eds.),
The Cambridge History of Christianity 4: Early Medieval Christianities, c. 600-c. 1100
(Cambridge, 2008), and C. Wickham,
The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000
(London and New York, 2009) - the last providing a wide sweep of perspectives including emphasis on the social and economic background. An eloquent and absorbing study, weighted before 1000, is R. Fletcher,
The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity 371-1386
AD (London, 1997). On a key figure, an excellent starter is R. A. Markus,
Gregory the Great and His World
(Cambridge, 1997), and there are fine essays on another key personality in J. Story (ed.),
Charlemagne: Empire and Society
(Manchester, 2005). J. M. Wallace-Hadrill,
The Frankish Church
(Oxford, 1983), is a substantial study of the section of the Western Church which transformed religious patterns on a much wider scale. H. Mayr-Harting,
The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England
(3rd edn, London, 1991) delightfully introduces the subject, in the nature of things owing much to an equally delightful work by an only slightly more venerable historian, L. Sherley-Price and R. E. Latham (eds.),
Bede: A History of the English Church and People
(rev. edn, London, 1968). More classic hagiographies of the period, some by Bede himself, are to be encountered in J. F. Webb (tr.) and D. H. Farmer (ed.),
The Age of Bede
(London, 1983).

11: The West: Universal Emperor or Universal Pope? (900- 1200)

After the general introductions to the whole period listed above, a refreshingly iconoclastic perspective is R. I. Moore,
The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Power and Deviance in Western Europe, 950-1250
(Oxford, 1987), expanded into a more general survey in R. I. Moore,
The First European Revolution, c. 970-1215
(Oxford, 2000). K. G. Cushing,
Reform and the Papacy in the Eleventh Century: Spirituality and Social Change
(Manchester and New York, 2005), presents a clear overview of the Gregorian Revolution, and is usefully complemented chronologically by the equally workmanlike R. N. Swanson,
The Twelfth-century Renaissance
(Manchester, 1999). J. Harvey,
The Gothic World 1100-1600: A Survey of Architecture and Art
(London, 1950), is a good place to start exploring the dominant medieval style, while its Romanesque predecessor is absorbingly catalogued in the photography of a stupendous French series of publications begun in 1955 by Benedictine monks,
La nuit des temps
(La Pierre-qui-Vire, 1955- ), now running to more than ninety volumes. G. Duby,
The Age of the Cathedrals: Art and Society 980-1420
(London, 1981), originally published as
Le temps des cathedrales: l'art et la societe 980-1420
(Paris, 1976), is a wonderful exposition of the importance of cathedrals in the society of the High Middle Ages, with its focus on the eleventh and twelfth century; it is a pity that the English translation is so wooden. Unequivocally a pleasure to read in its gentlemanly New England lyricism is H. Adams,
Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres
(Boston, MA, 1904). On the Crusading phenomenon, S. Runciman,
A History of the Crusades
(3 vols., Cambridge, 1951-4) is classic. C. Tyerman,
God's War: A New History of the Crusades
(London, 2006), is a more recent summary of a lifetime's thought, complemented by the various perspectives provided by a fine crew of essayists in S. J. Ridyard (ed.),
The Medieval Crusade
(Woodbridge and Rochester, NY, 2004). A beautifully argued and illustrated survey with a wider chronological focus is particularly relevant for the Crusading period: C. Morris,
The Sepulchre of Christ and the Medieval West from the Beginning to 1600
(Oxford, 2005), while H. Houben,
Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West
(Cambridge, 2002), focuses on one of the most fascinating and unusual Western Christians of his age.

12: A Church for All People? (1100- 1300)

Much profit is provided by the essayists in M. Rubin (ed.),
The Cambridge History of Christianity 4: Christianity in Western Europe, c. 1100-c. 1500
(Cambridge, 2009). Richly enjoyable and displaying an exceptional sensitivity to visual evidence beyond its supposed boundaries is R. Marks,
Image and Devotion in Late Medieval England
(Stroud, 2004). Few other countries have had the luck to have been treated to such a study as D. Knowles,
The Religious Orders in England
(3 vols., Cambridge, 1948-59). M. Rubin,
Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture
(Cambridge, 1991), says a great deal about the period by concentrating on one of its chief cultural products, while excellent portraits of three sharply contrasting architects of their age are to be gained from M. Reeves,
Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future: A Medieval Study in Historical Thinking
(rev. edn, Stroud, 1999), J. C.Moore (ed.),
Pope Innocent III and His World
(Aldershot, 1999), and K. B. McFarlane,
John Wycliffe and the Beginnings of English Non-conformity
(London, 1952) - the last, like Jones's study of Constantine above, a superb example of how to present history to the intelligent but uninformed. N. Cohn,
The Pursuit of the Millennium
(3rd rev. edn, London, 1969) still stirs the imagination, even if some of its perspectives may now seem over-delineated.

PART V: ORTHODOXY: THE IMPERIAL FAITH (451-1800)

General Reading

Byzantium and Orthodoxy in general have some beguiling guides. J. Herrin,
Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire
(London, 2007), is an arresting place to begin, arranged topically as well as chronologically, and another splendid introduction is A. Cameron,
The Byzantines
(Oxford, 2006). A fine gateway to Orthodoxy from a magisterial historian also an Orthodox bishop is K. Ware,
The Orthodox Church
(London, 1994), and the ground is covered comprehensively albeit with some minor slips in J. Binns,
An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches
(Cambridge, 2002). J. M. Hussey,
The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire
(Oxford, 1986), is stodgy, but is not to be neglected. Teams of experts crowd M. Angold (ed.),
The Cambridge History of Christianity 5: Eastern Christianity
(Cambridge, 2006) and C. Mango (ed.),
The Oxford History of Byzantium
(Oxford, 2002). A sparkling set of essayists is marshalled in A. Louth and A. Casiday (eds.),
Byzantine Orthodoxies
(Aldershot, 2006), and the culminating work of a great career in historical exposition and Christian ecumenical endeavour is H. Chadwick,
East and West: The Making of a Rift in the Church. From Apostolic Times until the Council of Florence
(Oxford, 2003). A. Ivanov,
Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond
(Oxford, 2006), is a delightful and learned survey of a theme which may disconcert Westerners meeting the Orthodox tradition.

13: Faith in a New Rome (451- 900)

A fascinating exposition of a hitherto-neglected world catastrophe is L. K. Little (ed.),
Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541-750
(Cambridge, 2007). J. Moorhead,
Justinian
(London, 1994), is the best introduction to this architect of Byzantine identity, who should also be entertainingly encountered, along with his formidable spouse, in G. A. Williamson (tr.),
Procopius: The Secret History
(London, 1966). The essayists of J. Fontaine and J. N. Hillgarth (eds.),
The Seventh Century: Change and Continuity
(London, 1992), illuminate a turning point in Byzantine history, which is explored in further detail by L. Brubaker and J. Haldon (eds.),
Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era (c. 680-850). The Sources: An Annotated Survey
(Aldershot, 2001).

14: Orthodoxy: More Than an Empire (900- 1700)

In addition to the general sources, M. Angold,
The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context
(Harlow, 2003), provides a good account of this wretched and decisive episode, while the final disaster inspires a lively presentation in R. Crowley,
Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453
(London, 2005). A more upbeat story of eventual renewal, with beautiful illustrations, is G. Speake,
Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise
(New Haven and London, 2002).

15: Russia: The Third Rome (900- 1800)

A good place to begin in the understanding of a culture very hard for Westerners properly to understand is a wise study by a great Orthodox exile, of much more general interest than its title implies, J. Meyendorff,
Byzantium and the Rise of Russia: A Study of Byzantino-Russian relations in the 14th Century
(Cambridge, 1981). Extremely lively is T. Szamuely,
The Russian Tradition
(London, 1974). W. van den Bercken,
Holy Russia and Christian Europe: East and West in the Religious Ideology of Russia
(London, 1999), a translation of
De mythe van het Oosten. Oost en West in de religieuze ideeengeschiedenis van Rusland
(Zoetermeer, 1998), provides further general insight. G. Hosking,
Russia: People and Empire 1551-1917
(1997), is an excellent complement to the early focus of these works, and a highly engaging journey beyond high politics and elites is made in A. Sinyavsky,
Ivan the Fool. Russian Folk Belief: A Cultural History
(Moscow, 2007), a translation of this noted dissident novelist's original text. S. Plokhy,
The Cossacks and Religion in Early Modern Ukraine
(Oxford, 2002), helps to explain the tangled relationship of Russia and Ukraine, while a superb biography of a key figure is I. de Madariaga,
Ivan the Terrible
(New Haven and London, 2005).

PART VI: WESTERN CHRISTIANITY DISMEMBERED (1300-1800)

General Reading

A firework display of insights into the period is provided by J. Bossy,
Christianity in the West 1400-1700
(Oxford, 1985). D. MacCulloch,
Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490-1700
(London, 2003), provides an overview; E. Duffy,
The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, c. 1400-c. 1580
(New Haven and London, 1992), evokes with elegiac elegance the world which the Reformation destroyed and the way in which one kingdom destroyed it.

16: Perspectives on the True Church (1300- 1517)

The period is well introduced by N. P. Tanner,
The Church in the Later Middle Ages
(London, 2008). A passionate survey of one of its most important products, whose consequences remain still fully to be worked out, is F. Oakley,
The Conciliarist Tradition: Constitutionalism in the Catholic Church, 1300-1870
(Oxford, 2003). That giant among Dutch historians J. Huizinga produced a classic introduction to
Erasmus of Rotterdam
(London, 1952), a translation of the Dutch original of 1924; it can be triangulated with L.-E. Halkin,
Erasmus: A Critical Biography
(Oxford, 1993), and a delightful and profound meditation by M. A. Screech,
Laughter at the Foot of the Cross
(London, 1997).

17: A House Divided (1517- 1660)

Varied voices of a galaxy of experts on the European Reformation are heard in A. Pettegree (ed.),
The Reformation World
(London, 2000), and R. Po-Chia Hsia (ed.),
The Cambridge History of Christianity 6: Reform and Expansion 1500-1660
(Cambridge, 2007). Textbook-style is B. Kumin (ed.),
The European World 1500-1800
(London, 2009), Part 3. A series of sure guides to the complex theological disputes of the period are furnished by D. Bagchi and D. Steinmetz (eds.),
The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology
(Cambridge, 2004). Of the countless biographies of the Reformation's first great personality, a variety of introductory spotlights appear in D. K. McKim (ed.),
The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther
(Cambridge, 2003). M. Marty,
Martin Luther
(New York, 2004) is concise, and would be provocatively complemented by progressing to R. Marius,
Martin Luther: The Christian between God and Death
(Cambridge, MA, and London, 1999). All these would be a painless prelude to M. Brecht,
Martin Luther
(3 vols., London, 1985-93), translated from
Martin Luther
(3 vols., Stuttgart, 1981-7), a work conceived on a grand scale from within the Lutheran tradition, and therefore inclined to give Luther multiple benefits of the doubt. The resulting Lutheranism in Germany should be sampled in the essays of the tragically short-lived R. W. Scribner,
Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany
(London, 1987).

G. R. Potter (ed.),
Huldrych Zwingli
(London, 1978), is a fine biography of this unjustly neglected Reformer, and a much better-known Reformed Protestant of the next generation is to be enjoyably encountered in the work of a fellow-Frenchman with a fine sense of Calvin's cultural context, B. Cottret,
Calvin: A Biography
(Grand Rapids and Edinburgh, 2000), translated from
Calvin: biographie
(Paris, 1995). The Reformed tradition of Protestantism which they shaped is now superbly introduced both by P. Benedict,
Christ's Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism
(New Haven and London, 2002) and G. Murdock,
Beyond Calvin: The Intellectual, Political and Cultural World of Europe's Reformed Churches, c. 1540-1620
(Basingstoke, 2004). The crisis which was in great measure triggered by the Reformation is presented in P. H. Wilson,
Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War
(London, 2009).