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The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
by (Editor: Norman Cantor) (Editor: Harold Rabinowitz)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Viking Adult (1999-06-01)
ISBN: 0670100110
EAN: 9780670100118
Dewy Decimal #: 909.07
Hardcover: 448 pages
SKU: 00849
Condition: Collectible: Good 1s
Comments: Good condition from clean non smoking home. No dust jacket. First edition
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
From the world's most distinguished medievalist comes a lively and vivid account of the lords and ladies, saints and scholars, kings and peasants who shaped the history and culture of one of the richest and most misunderstood periods in history. In this full-color, landmark reference, Cantor and a team of scholars and experts explore the entire medieval world--from the British Isles to the Far East, and the great figures--Dante, Chaucer, Aquinas, who defined the period. >From the Crusades to the Vikings, The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages contains 600 individual entries and over 200 illustrations from world-famous collections, including the British Museum and the Morgan Library. Twenty major essays portraying the lives of Medieval luminaries, and original maps charting military campaigns and developing nations, make this the indispensable home reference for scholars and students.
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Amazon.com Review
As greater numbers of naysayers look forward to the collapse of civilization, perhaps it's best to see what happened last time. It turns out the Dark Ages weren't so bad--in fact, after reading through The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, you might find yourself pining for the good old days before the Renaissance. Historian Norman F. Cantor has assembled a crack team of experts to unleash their copious knowledge on our modern world; better still, Viking Press has enlisted excellent designers to present the information efficiently and even beautifully. You'll find yourself irresistibly drawn from one entry to the next (there are over 600, so leave time for browsing) as the story of the Council of Nicaea leads on to explorations of medieval Christianity and much more. Twenty longer essays on general topics provide the foundation for the rest of the Encyclopedia and make great reading on their own, but the meat of the book is in the details. Lavishly illustrated in both color and black-and-white, including artworks, maps, and timetables, this reference work looks as good on the shelf as it does on the coffee table. --Rob Lightner
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Customer Reviews
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Interesting but with many inexact articles
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-10-02
In the classical definition of an encyclopedia, this one is obviously written by many different authors, with different levels of accuracy and seriousness. Unfortunately, this leads to a work where an excellent article can be followed by a piece of trash.
Two examples. Islam and Jews are covered by several articles over at least half a dozen pages, and these try to present their subjects more or less objectively, respectfully and accurately. Christianity on the other hand, which regardless of your beliefs must be recognized as central to the Middle Ages, is treated on one and a half pages, in an article that is practically an attack on the religion and presents many silly factoids and wild theories that are commonplace among anti-christian people. The only one missing is that about Jesus never existing. To place an anti-christian in charge of writing the article about Christianity is a gross error. I'm not saying that it should have been made by a devout christian either- just by someone objective.
Then the article about feudalism. One would expect this to be one of the central pieces of the book, treating this fundamental subject of the middle ages extensively and in detail. However, it is a boring piece which merely spends two pages trying to define the meaning of the word "feudalism".
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good work but typos?? hurt
Rating (3)
Date: 2004-08-03
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a beautifully produced book with hundreds of color plates. There are many areas barely touched upon, but this is not a deep work, just one meant to acquaint people with Medieval times and possibly lure to a more in depth study. But since this is an "encyclopedia", I ask did you ever get in depth works there? They are merely the start of a journey. If you think along those lines you will have a clear view of how this books works and serves. So approach it as that and you will be pleased. It is merely a starting point. Some inaccurate information, so beware to double check sources when using information. Not sure if the errors were done in actual research (hard to believe of a Rhodes Scholar) or just typos. Either way, in a work such as this they really hurt the credibility.
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1000 years of History
Rating  (4)
Date: 2003-06-16
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
'The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages', edited by Robert Cantor (Rhodes Scholar, Fulbright Fellow, &c.) is a good reference work, an encyclopedic dictionary, covering the roughly 1000 years from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance. In addition the usual definition-explanation entries, it has three types of sidebar essays: Illuminations, which focus on sources, Life in the Middle Ages, which talks about common life details, and Legend and Lore, which explores imaginative concepts which informed medieval life.
There are maps, literally hundreds of photographs and illustrations, a layout that is inviting for study, reference, or general reading. It is 'easy on the eyes', much more so that a usual encyclopedia.
The scope of this work is also broader than most medieval reference texts. 'Despite what students of medieval history are accustomed to reading, life did exist outside of Europe in the Middle Ages.' That having been said, this is still a very euro-centric book. This book gives a great deal of attention to science, medicine, and other topics often ignored or pushed to the periphery of a more politically-oriented textual treatment.
There is an introductory essay that is well worth reading even if this is meant to be an on-the-shelf-for-reference-only sort of book. In talking about the influence on popular culture of the Middle Ages (everything from The Name of the Rose to the medieval garb, feudal structure and apprenticeship-education framework of Star Wars), Cantor says:
'In order to recognise [this Middle Ages influence] one has to have at some time known, and this has been the job of historians, who today painfully append to Santayana's famous saying (about those forgetting the past being condemned to repeat it) the observation that one cannot forget a history one did not know in the first place.'
Cantor describes twentieth century medievalists as being on a quest for 'wellsprings of a romantic and idealistic consciousness that would inspire a vibrant counterculture.' There is some of that in this book, but largely being encyclopedic rather than analytical and critical in nature, the reader/researcher can use the information contained herein for his own evaluations.
From the Abbadid and Abbasid Dynasties to Yaroslave the Wise and Yugoslavia, from Boethius to Wycliffe, this book has hidden treats and interesting articles for all.
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Not a reliable sourcebook for the Middle Ages
Rating  (1)
Date: 2002-06-26
16 out of 18 customers found this reveiw helpful
Supposedly, this book was put together by some of the "world's most distinguished medievalists"! One hopes not! In addition to the glaring errors of taste and judgment pointed out by some of the other reviewers, the factual errors are astonishing! One of the most egregious errors occurs on p. 138: "Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of two kings, Philip I of France and Henry I of England"!!!!! Eleanor, of course, was the wife of Louis VII of France and of Henry II of England! This kind of sloppiness is simply not acceptable in a book that purports to be by "someof the world's best medieval historians" (fronticepiece). The pictures are pretty; some of the articles are acceptable (but hardly noteworthy), but the book should be avoided at all costs by serious (or would-be) students of the Medieval Period.
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Re: John XXIII (not a review)
Rating (4)
Date: 2001-05-21
10 out of 13 customers found this reveiw helpful
In Eric Roth's review of this book, he wonders if listing John XXIII as a pope in the 15th century is a typo. It's not. There was a schismatic pope of that time named John XXIII. (At one point there were three popes!) Since he wasn't universally recognized, he didn't count when John XXIII in the 1960s took the same name.
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