I first encountered Cahill when I read “How the Irish Saved Civilization,”  the first volume in his  “Hinges of History.” It  was a joy to read!  Cahill likes to use themes in writing about history and he takes seemingly simple ideas  and shows how they moved history forward.   “Mysteries of the Middle Ages” is now the fifth book in this series and in it he describes the forces and ideas that emerged in the medieval period which became the seeds of the modern world.

Cahill begins with the exploration of the city and times of Alexandria and the influence it had on both the medieval and modern era with its emphasis on reason, thought, mind and rational inquiry. But Greek thought and philosophy, he argues, was only the “mold”  for our modern world, and it was the content from ancient Jewish and Christian sources which emphasized the heart and body rather than just the mind and intellect, and focused on the consequences of moral action and interaction that flowed into and first “jelled” in the medieval period and became the basis of our modern world,

Cahill uses various examples to make his point starting with the cult of the virgin which resulted from the Catholic Church’s exploration of the the theological consequences of a god who was incarnated and became a man.  With the recognition that this incarnation occurred as a result of Mary giving birth to Jesus, there arose within the art and liturgy of the church an expression of adoration and awe for Mary, which became known as the cult of the virgin.  The honoring of Mary became in some sense the window through which other women then could be valued and honored as well.  One of the earliest of those women was Hildegard of Bingen a famous anchorite of the 12th century who became powerful in her own right as the Mother Superior of her own order, and a valued and thoughtful adviser to Popes and Kings. Powerful, because of her holiness, she became an example to women that they were capable and valued.

He explores through Dante’s Divine Comedy, how the idea of the consequences of the way we live our lives, the way we are in relationship to others matters and that it is those actions that the soul carries with it -a distinctly Christian view point which was in contrast to the Greek view that the soul only carries its education and culture into the other world and nothing else (Plato.)

Using St Francis of Assisi, Peter Abelard and Heloise, Thomas Aquinas, Giotto, Cahill describes how through their faith, art, and their intellectual curiosity they moved beyond the framework of Greek thought and understanding into a reality based affirmation of the body and its senses and the idea that our perceptions were generally accurate and reliable.  Thus giving way to the idea that observation and rational thought processes could be used to understand the world around us- the basis of modern thought and science.

This change toward a more incarnate sense of who we are can also be seen through the changes in artistic expression from the Greek and Byzantine stoic and static Christ against a colored background to the art of Giotto that shows Christ in a particular time and space, anchored in the world, and shown with a range of expressions.

This is the way history comes alive for me. To find ways to trace themes, or to find points when history changes because of an idea or a thought or an artistic expression, and Cahill is masterful in explaining why it matters. This book was very informative, intriguing and full of pictures and stimulating ideas.  It was a joy to read!

Brenda’s Rating: *****(Five Stars out of Five)  

Recommend this Book to: Sharon, Keith, Ken and Marian

Book Study Worthy: Yes

I read it in paper and recommend using only color e-readers.