A Review of The Bright Ages

 

Today, I would like to discuss a recent work on Medieval history that I read. It challenges the concept of the ''Dark Ages.'' The book was written by medievalists David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele. 

I recently finished The Bright Ages. In general, I have mixed feelings about the book. For example, one of the areas where I disagree with the book is it makes a political point from cover to cover against white supremacy. Unfortunately, I feel that the authors see more people than Neo-Nazis as white supremacists. Frequently, far more so than its condemning of the far left, it condemns those that it considers being far right. The authors hardly fell short of showing their opposition to Trump's wall at the southern border, of making a constant point against the notion of western civilization, and constantly reminding the reader that not all people were white. 

I'm grateful for new research unveiling aspects of the past that we have not yet heard from our textbooks. However, I felt that the authors were politically motivated in their writing of a book that had more on its agenda than disproving ''Dark Ages'' myths. 

I have no problem with challenging previously held thoughts by some in the nineteenth century who wrongly believed that all Medieval Europeans were white. As The Bright Ages shows, there was a much greater complexity of race in Medieval history than many have properly understood. Whites and blacks both interacted throughout the Mediterranean, for instance. LIkewsie, I think that the book does a fine job of showing the complexity of religious groups in Medieval Times. Muslims, Christians, and Jews were not always enemies. Indeed, many of them interacted and worked together through trade and scholarship. The idea that the Crusades were the interaction between Christians and Muslims in Medieval Times is quite false. 

But while appreciating the authors demonstrating through historical evidence the over simplicity that many have perceived the Middle Ages as being, I disagree with their attempt to move away from other traditional views concerning the Middle Ages. For example, I see nothing that is white supremacist about America's roots in Europe or that most Europeans were historically white people. I also disagree with the book in that I think that the authors are being selective in their study of history. While discussing the complex relationship of Muslims and Christians in the Mediterranean, the authors seem to either forget or avoid the strong conservative orthodoxy of the Medieval Catholic Church. They avoid discussions of how Catholicism always saw unbelievers headed to the eternal fires. They also avoid writing about how much the far left of today prevents those with views akin to Medieval Catholicism as hatred and bigotry. 

There are some good aspects of The Bright Ages that I appreciated, however. For example, the authors did a fine job of showing that the traditional view of Rome falling in the fifth century is not the entire truth. Long after Rome was sacked in 410 AD, many of the medievals saw themselves as still within Roman history. To many of them, either Charlemagne or the Byzantines were the continuation of the old empire. Because of this, the medievals did not see a clear breach in time between the gradual decline of Rome in the fifth century and their own. 

Another aspect of The Bright Ages that I appreciate, is how much the book dispels common ''Dark Ages'' myths. The authors were well-versed in their knowledge of Medieval Times and were defined by far more than torture, plagues, and wars. This was the era in which Christian science was born; the time during which cathedrals were built, and the time that gave birth to great works of literature such as those by Dante and Petrarch. The book closes on Petrarch's understanding of the ''Dark Ages'' before him, making the argument that there never had been a dark age at all. 

The Bright Ages, however, does not discuss some views of the Middle Ages espoused by Fundamentalist Christians, who typically lack any formal education in either medieval history or medieval literature. For those wishing to hear common myths about the gospel supposedly being lost during Medieval Times, I recommend the following works (over The Bright Ages): 

Long Before Luther by Nathan Busenitz. 

The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature by C. S. Lewis

The Allegory of Love by C. S. Lewis

Positively Medieval: The Surirpsrins Dynamic Heroic Church of the Middle Ages by Jamie Blosser. 

While The Discarded Image and The Allegory of Love are more about Medieval literature than medieval theology, the latter directly deals with the myth that peasants were ignorant of the scriptures. The former, however, explains the literary knowledge in general that even many illiterate medieval people had. 

Blosser's book does an excellent job of showing the many great saints and heroes of the faith in the Middle Ages. In general, his book defends common misconceptions of the medieval church. A conservative Eastern Rite Catholic,  Blosser's book enlightens the reader about some of the great medieval minds such as Thomas Aquinas. 

Businitiz's book does not address the ''Dark Ages'' myths in general. However, as a graduate Ph.D. student from the Master's Seminary, the author did a very good job at showing that many Medieval Christians actually held to justification by faith alone. 

Finally, for those who wish to hear a more evangelical take on the Middle Ages, there is a great article from Houston Christian University (formerly, Houston Baptist) that defends Medieval Christianity as the authentic root of the Protestant Reformation. I am very grateful for this article. Specifically, it shows that the reformers were not so far off from medieval theology (even from the medievals who did not hold to Sola fide).  You can check it out here: 

https://hc.edu/news-and-events/2018/05/22/rethinking-the-reformation-reliance-upon-the-middle-ages/

In conclusion, I have mixed feelings about The Bright Ages. There are certainly better titles that I would recommend on medieval history.