Judith M. Bennett > Quotes

“Even these extinct medieval customs have a place in our story, for they are fascinating examples of the breadth of human experiences, past and present, and they are, of course, integral parts of the medieval world that we seek not merely to observe but also to understand.”
― Judith M. Bennett, Medieval Europe: A Short History, 10th Edition

“Because medieval people are long dead, they cannot protest if we today characterize their customs as primitive, their lifestyle as crude, and their values as horrific. Their silence offers us a safe opposite to our selves, a bad time against which our own time looks pretty good. Who, after all, would want to live in a time without electricity, running water, or computers? Who, they might respond to us if they could, would want to live in a world plagued by nuclear weapons, global warming, and gargantuan cities?”
― Judith M. Bennett, Medieval Europe: A Short History, 10th Edition

“In short, anyone who wonders how Western Europe helped to transform the world, for good or ill, into the global civilization that envelops us today must look to the medieval centuries for an important part of the answer.”
― Judith M. Bennett, Medieval Europe: A Short History, 10th Edition

“our world is a product of the medieval past”
― Judith M. Bennett, Medieval Europe: A Short History, 10th Edition