Medieval Europe

by Davis H. W. Carless (Henry Wi Carless) (Creator)

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

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

170 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1993

Reviews

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting, short and lay-friendly overview the development of Europe during the Middle Ages. Davis sketches in broad strokes the development of the kingdoms of western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, the ascendancy of the Papacy, the development of feudalism and the contentious growth of cities. While there are many aspects that are mentioned without further elaboration, such as the monastic and scholastic movements, these do not undermine the clarity of the broader trends and are excellent jumping off points for the interested reader. Definitively would recommend for anyone looking to get a quick overview of the Middle Ages.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too fussy to succeed as popular history, too shallow to give a good understanding of such a broad period.

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a public domain ebook of a work originally published in 1911. It’s a brief summary of the European Middle Ages aiming to dispel the “dark ages” view still prevalent at the time. Rather than just enumerating kings and battles, the author attempts to summarise the social movements and beliefs that shaped the epoch. Particularly, he shows the continuity between the Roman Empire and the medieval State, finding the roots of feudalism in the latifunda of Rome as well as barbarian vassalage, and those of the Church’s power in Roman bureaucracy and custom. It’s an interesting approach even though it is only a high level summary of what was going on. However, this approach makes many events of the times fit in a logical pragmatic progression rather than seem like isolated and unexplained happenings. This is a book to consult again.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a MOOC on Coursera called Unlocking the Manuscripts of Medieval Spain.

This book was published in 1911. The author is quite fond of big words. And he jumps around a lot. I read a version from gutenburg.org that does not include maps, which made it even more confusing. If you are familiar with Medieval Europe, you might get something out of this book. For me it jumped around a lot.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read, but given the era it was written the book is surprisingly conversational. A "mile-high" overview of the high points in medieval history, with a focus on the rise and fall of feudalism.

[Nick B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough read due to the time period it was written in, but contained a good amount of information and detail.

[Sensei Sage · Rating 2 out of 5]

definitely has a lot of spin, but i'm learning a lot reading it