| Description |
173 pages ; 19 cm |
| Series |
Pelican books |
|
Pelican books.
|
| Summary |
Although often held in contempt, dismissed with obloquy, or simply ignored, cannot the Middle Ages be regarded as more than the traditional delayer of the Renaissance and the Reformation? John Morrall, while not denying the essential differences between that age and ours, shows that the dichotomy between medieval and modern is not so self-evident. Tracing the rise, development and the eventual decline of the medieval period, the author illustrates how the attempt to implement ideals of human relationships through socially viable institutions was as strong in the days of early Christianity as it is today. He analyses the roles played by the Church, feudalism, universities, guilds and communes, and particularly by the political parties, in protecting the personalist ideal. However, by the fifteenth century, failure to preserve the ideal provoked wide-scale disillusionment with these institutions, and the eventual collapse of medieval society. The same problem of reconciling the 'individual' with the 'community' faces us today. A sympathetic understanding of medieval man's tragedy could well prove an invaluable lesson to us. -- from book cover |
| Analysis |
Church history - Middle Ages, 600-1500 |
|
Middle Ages - Addresses, essays, lectures |
|
Middle Ages - History - Addresses, essays, lectures |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Bibliography: pages [165]-168 |
| Subject |
Middle Ages.
|
| LC no. |
79513356 |
| ISBN |
0140211357 |
|
