The Medieval Reader; First Hand Accounts of the Middle Ages Including Letters, Essays, State and Church Documents, Poetry and Ballads

by Norman F. Cantor

First paperback edition.368 pages of interesting history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Medieval History, Literature, Reference, European History

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Cantor received his B.A. at the University of Manitoba in 1951. He went on to get his master's degree in 1953 from Princeton University and spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford. He received his doctorate from Princeton in 1957 under the direction of the eminent medievalist Joseph R. Strayer.

After teaching at Princeton, Cantor moved to Columbia University from 1960 to 1966. He was a Leff professor at Brandeis University until 1970 and then was at SUNY Binghamton until 1976, when he took a position at University of Illinois at Chicago for two years. He then went on to New York University, where he was professor of history, sociology and comparative literature. After a brief stint as Fulbright Professor at the Tel Aviv University History Department (1987–88), he devoted himself to working as a full-time writer.

Although his early work focused on English religious and intellectual history, Cantor's later scholarly interests were far more diverse, and he found more success writing for a popular audience than he did engaging in more narrowly-focused original research. He did publish one monograph study, based on his graduate thesis, Church, kingship, and lay investiture in England, 1089-1135, which appeared in 1958 and remains an important contribution to the topic of church-state relations in medieval England. Throughout his career, however, Cantor preferred to write on the broad contours of Western history, and on the history of academic medieval studies in Europe and North America, in particular the lives and careers of eminent medievalists. His books generally received mixed reviews in academic journals, but were often popular bestsellers, buoyed by Cantor's fluid, often colloquial, writing style and his lively critiques of persons and ideas, both past and present. Cantor was intellectually conservative and expressed deep skepticism about what he saw as methodological fads, particularly Marxism and postmodernism, but also argued for greater inclusion of women and minorities in traditional historical narratives. In both his best-selling Inventing the Middle Ages and his autobiography, Inventing Norman Cantor, he reflected on his strained relationship over the years with other historians and with academia in general.

Upon retirement in 1999, Cantor moved to Miami, Florida, where he continued to work on several books up to the time of his death.

Reviews

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is listed as "The only book of its kind,.." and I have to agree! I love the histories and you can read some or all at a time.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overall insight of the Medieval times, touching on the Nobility, the Church, and the Middle Class, and how they interacted. The entries are from documents actually written at the time, which are wonderful yet sometimes difficult due to changes from the vocabulary we use today. Definitely recommended for those just starting their studies of Medieval times.

[P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful compilation of powerful readings selected and most importantly, organized by the famous Medieval scholar Norman F. Cantor. He has selected most of the obvious and famous cuttings (Becket's murder, Abelard's travail, the trial of the Templars, etc). But he has organized and collated all the readings into a systematic anachronistic whole. One does not have to consult the index or a chronology to find out about scutage and discover that it is in twenty different places. The organization of the work makes it a joy to use and the selection is the fruit of his life as a leading scholar in his field.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

These selections are arranged topically and not in an overtly chronological fashion. At first, I found this off-putting. However, the march from antiquity to the verge of modernity as we know it is well-laid out in the organized building blocks. The perceptive yet not overly verbose introductions to each section and piece are together an education on key evolution of philosophy, politics, theology, etc. over the time covered. I especially liked the most microscopically focused documents: letters, contracts, diaries, etc.

[Steve Horton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Cantor's best effort, but okay.

[Johns · Rating 3 out of 5]

A helpful survey containing samples of original text written by the historic figures being presented. This book forces the modern reader to time-travel back and learn. These actual snippets of text help you overcome the annoying, sometimes biased introductory comments placed at the beginning of many sections by Dr. Cantor.

[Stephanie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic collection of sources from the Middle Ages. This is a great resource for anyone learning about medieval Europe.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating primary source material about the Middle Ages, collected and edited for people like me who don't have the patience or education to wade through entire texts of this stuff.

Norman Cantor is my go-to author on the Middle Ages!

[Heather Domin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read of a textbook from college. I'm on a medieval kick lately.