A Revisionist view of the Middle Ages

Gabriele, Matthew, and David M. Perry.  The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe.  

         New York: Harper, 2021.

 

 

The Dark Ages or the Middle Ages - terms which are often used to describe the time period between the "fall of Rome" and the flowering of the the Renaissance.  However,Gabriele and Perry argue in The Bright Ages that rather being a period of stagnation, dirt, and destruction, medieval Europe was a continuation of the past.  Their book provides a shifted perspective that seeks to shed light on forgotten and overlooked history.

 

In this revisionist survey of medieval Europe and its broader world, Gabriele and Perry opens The Bright Ages in the chapel of Galla Placida in Ravenna in 430CE with an examination of the ceiling filled with stars against a bright blue background.  The role of Galla Placida is explored as is the concept of Rome and empire.  The interaction of Islam and Europe is explored starting in Jerusalem, later in Egypt and Spain.  The role of the Church comes into focus both in Rome with Gregory the Great, but also in a field in Britain where a stone cross stands in Ruthwell (Scotland).  The spread of trade include the story of Charlemagne's elephant Abul-Abass who traveled from Africa to Baghdad to North Africa to finally arrive at Aachen..  Vikings play their part in the narrative of trade and cultural interaction as do the Crusades against Muslims and heretics in Europe.  Both piety, learning and intolerance, not to mention plague are all part of the tapestry of medieval Europe.  Gabriele and Perry end their survey back in Ravenna with an exiled Dante having his revenge in The Divine Comedy.

Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry have taken a different slant on the history of medieval Europe starting with the premise that Rome never fell.  How well they succeed depends upon who much of their evidence the reader accepts.  Take a chance and read The Bright Ages and see old events in a new light.