The Medieval Church: From the Dawn of the Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation

by Carl A. Volz

Why does one's concept of the medieval church have a direct bearing on one's attitude toward ecumenism? How was Europe evangelized? Why is it essential to understand the different relationships of church-to-state between the West and Byzantium in order to understand the church's role in Eastern culture today? What common practices of public worship and personal piety have their roots in the medieval church? The Medieval From the Dawn of the Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation addresses these questions and many more to demonstrate the pervasive influence of the past on modern piety, practice, and beliefs.

For many years the Medieval period of church history has been ignored or denigrated as being the "dark ages," an attitude fostered by Enlightenment assumptions. Yet not only does this millennium provide a bridge to the early church, it created modern Europe and its nations, institutions, and the concept of Christendom as well. The Medieval Church , written in an easily accessible style, introduces the reader to the fascinating interplay of authority and dissent, the birth and development of doctrinal beliefs, the spirituality of the common person, and the enduring allure of Christian mysticism.

The Medieval Church is a companion to The Early Origins to the Dawn of the Middle Ages by E. Glenn Hinson and The Modern From the Dawn of the Reformation to the Eve of the Third Millennium by Glenn Miller.

Genres: History, Church History, Nonfiction, Religion

260 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jeff Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volz proves to be a capable guide in engaging with the major themes, events, and cultural shifts in the Medieval period of Church History.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Medieval Church' textbook is not your typical textbook, but then again, it is. Overall, for a textbook, it's a pretty short read. It covers a pretty large span of time. It starts out going into the middle ages, and talks about the different things that happened in the Medieval church. In this book you see the formation of the Catholic church, in a lot of ways; the Pope coming into power, the challenges to the Pope, the story of the crusades, the Muslim community taking over the Holy Land, and how the crusades failed to take back the Holy Land. There's also the start of the Monastic life; the equivalent of what a nun would be today. This is a lifestyle that was a very disciplined Holy Life as they saw it; tending crops, they read all the Psalms every week, and they lived a life of poverty.

Where it has a lot of interesting topics. I didn't like the style in which it was written, I thought that sometimes it got a little dry and difficult to keep reading. I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad book. If you're interested in the Medieval times and the movements in the church in that period, it's a great read. It'll tell you just about anything you wanna know. I personally have enjoyed history books more than this one, and I give it 3 stars.

[Michael Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly dry, but its a well-documented survey of the Medieval church, especially the Latin side. I would have preferred a little more consideration to the Byzantine Church, but I believe that Volz was more primarily concerned with understanding the emergence of the church in Europe.

[Cbarrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best summaries of medieval church history. Very readable and engaging.

[Richard Bartholomew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Medieval Church covers the period from the fall of Rome through to the dawn of the Reformation. The style is plodding and colourless and somewhat superficial, but as an introductory (or refresher) text it covers what one would expect, and there is judicious use of primary and secondary sources. The book confines itself purely to Europe (aside from a bit of Crusading), and Russia is mentioned only in passing, but the Byzantine Orthodox tradition is given proper due, and I see from an obituary of the author (who died a year after publication) that Volz represented the ELCA in Lutheran–Orthodox Dialogues.

Volz takes account of socio-economic trends, religious ideas and secular political ambitions, but the book could have been better-edited; the condemnation of Arnold of Brescia is mentioned as an important fact several times before it is explained to us who he was and why his condemnation was significant. Blemishes include "principle" for "principal" more than once, and the unhappy appearance (due to an over-zealous 1990s spell checker or a dense proof-reader, presumably) of "Pope Pious II" rather than "Pius". An over-fussy publisher's style presents us with the clumsy "William, 'the Conqueror'" rather than "William the Conqueror", as well as "Attila, 'the Hun'" and "Alfred, 'the Great'" etc.

[Father Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's tough to get excited about history, but I found this book to be a good resource on the medieval Church leading up to the Reformation. I cut my teeth on outright medieval history with this book and came to understand events like the Avignon papacy and the antipopes for the first time. I can't say I got excited about it, but there is much to be learned here.

[Abel Joseph]

good historical info...not much commentary. condensed...maybe too much. needs some graphics, especially maps.