Mysteries of the Middle Ages

The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe

De: Thomas Cahill

Narrado por: Thomas Cahill

After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today.

By placing the image of the Virgin Mary at the center of their churches and their lives, medieval people exalted womanhood to a level unknown in any previous society. For the first time, men began to treat women with dignity and women took up professions that had always been closed to them.

The communion bread, believed to be the body of Jesus, encouraged the formulation of new questions in philosophy: Could reality be so fluid that one substance could be transformed into another? Could ordinary bread become a holy reality? Could mud become gold, as the alchemists believed? These new questions pushed the minds of medieval thinkers toward what would become modern science.

Artists began to ask themselves similar questions. How can we depict human anatomy so that it looks real to the viewer? How can we depict motion in a composition that never moves? How can two dimensions appear to be three? Medieval artists (and writers, too) invented the Western tradition of realism.

On visits to the great cities of Europe—monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable Florence of Dante and Giotto—Cahill brilliantly captures the spirit of experimentation, the colorful pageantry, and the passionate pursuit of knowledge that built the foundations for the modern world.©2006 Thomas Cahill; (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Like a favorite college professor who could make any subject fascinating and understandable, Thomas Cahill takes us on an intoxicating journey through medieval Europe in Mysteries of the Middle Ages. Throughout it all, you are keenly aware that the author wants you to fall in love with this pivotal period in Western civilization every bit as much as he did....Cahill spans centuries of history beautifully and seamlessly, giving readers a lovingly painted picture of the high Middle Ages and how its sensibilities evolved to shape ours today."--The Los Angeles Times"A prodigiously gifted populizar of Western philosophical and religious thought spotlights exemplary Christians in the High Middle Ages...Cahill serves as an irresistible guide: never dull, sometimes provocative, often luminous."—Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea“Fascinating…Commendable…Cahill has an impressive knowledge of the Greek world.…His admirable skill at summing up movements of enormous complexity surfaces throughout the book.”—Seattle Times“Astonishing…If anybody can get us reading about Homer, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Thucydides, Xenophon and more, Cahill will.”—Chicago TribunePraise for Desire of the Everlasting Hills“Each of [Cahill’s] books offers moments of genuine insight into the workings of culture, literature, and the human heart.”—Commonweal“With grace, skill, and erudition, he summarizes obtuse semantic and historical arguments, highlights the findings most relevant to lay readers, and draws disparate material together in his portraits of Jesus, his mother, Mary, and the apostle Paul.”—Washington Post Book WorldPraise for The Gifts of the Jews“Captivating…Persuasive as well as entertaining…Mr. Cahill’s book is a gift.”—New York Times“Cahill’s clearly voiced, jubilant song of praise to the gifts of the Jews is itself a gift—a splendid story, well told.”—Boston GlobePraise for How the Irish Saved Civilization“Charming and poetic…an entirely engaging, delectable voyage into the distant past, a small treasure.”—New York Times“Cahill’s lively prose breathes life into a 1,600-year-old history.”—Boston Globe

History at its worst

As an avid reader of history for over 40 years, I must say this is absolutely the most self indulgent nonsense I have ever come across. If you want to hear ridiculous references to everyone from MLK to Bessie Smith, and the obligatory swings at George W Bush, in a book that pretends to be about the Middle Ages, go ahead. If you want to learn how the Renaissance got it's start, look elsewhere.

The authors' over bloated prose, packed full of pseudo-intellectual double negatives reeks of an ego I have never seen or heard in any other historian's works. I tried as hard as I could to put up with the book; after 2 hours it was more than I could stand.

Thinly veiled Progressive Rant

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If Cahill had actually stuck to history instead of using history as an excuse to go on leftist rants.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not Cahill.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Mysteries of the Middle Ages?

The work has nothing to do with "mysteries" but is largely a series of biographical vignettes. Cahill is a compelling author, but could not resist using this work as a platform for criticizing GW Bush and the 20th century Catholic Church. There is plenty there to criticize, but this was not the place for it. Cahill also profoundly misrepresents both Islam and Christianity, even though his first-person references often suggest he is (was ?) Catholic. His controlling interpretive lens of history (medieval and modern) is the tired progressive filter that long ago ran its course.The few worthwhile insights he offers are greatly outweighed by the deficiencies in this work.

Biased

Very biased anti-Christian view of historic charactors . Author attributes every motive to power and ego .