The Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages by James T. Palmer (review)

James T. Palmer’s new book is a carefully presented, groundbreaking study of apocalyptic thinking that successfully cuts through the often impenetrable scholarly debates over the role of End-Time prophecies in the early Middle Ages. Palmer’s learned yet highly readable book introduces a new understanding of the function of eschatology and End-Time prophecy that will change the way we think about this central aspect of the medieval past. The book is divided into seven chapters that work chronologically from the waning of the Roman Empire through the early-eleventh century, focusing on essential periods during which the destiny of the world, the Christian Roman Empire metonymically speaking, was imagined in eschatological terms: the fall of Rome, the Arab invasions, the empire of Charlemagne, the decline of Carolingian power, and the turn of the first millennium during the reign of Otto III. Although structured largely around these key periods, the book is in no way limited to the problem of imperial eschatology. Instead, the book considers a wide variety of articulations of concern over the coming of the end of time, which is how Palmer is able to make his argument work so successfully. Summoning evidence from around Europe, he shows that anxiety was rarely consistent, since factors such as varying intellectual traditions; differences in political, religious, and social practice; and uneven approaches to the Augustinian prescription against prediction produced a wide variety of individual and communal visions of the End.

Palmer begins with an in-depth historiographical section in which he lucidly presents the debates over such thorny matters as the silence (for some deafening) surrounding the coincidence of the coronation of Charlemagne with the prophesied AM Y6K (the biblical Annus Mundi 6000 according to Eusebian calculations), and the significance of AD Y1K or the alleged terrors of the year 1000. A generous narrator throughout, Palmer deftly transcends these seemingly insoluble disagreements by offering a third way in the form of a systematic view of how apocalyptic thinking was woven into the fabric of society at all levels as a force for reform and improvement. As a motivational tool for change in the face of inevitable Judgment, apocalyptic discourse functioned differently in different contexts, yet it yielded similar results. The inevitability of Judgment (whether seemingly imminent or not) inspired a desire to improve, not just when times were bad.

Palmer’s argument for a broader view of apocalyptic thinking does not minimize the importance of imperial eschatology, however. Instead, he presents contemplation of the End as less urgent, more optimistic, and more diffuse than has previously been thought. To make his case, the author considers a wide variety of works, but he is particularly illuminating in his presentation of the writings and subsequent influence of St. Gregory the Great, St. Gregory of Tours, the Venerable Bede, Pseudo-Methodius, and Adso of Montier-en-Der. The book also sheds important light on the relationship between expressions of apocalyptic anxiety at the community level and the treatment of perceived outsiders, especially Jews, who figure in biblical prophecies and play a central role in the End-Time scenario of the reign of Antichrist. With its unprecedented new take on an age-old question, this book will be essential reading for many, if not all, students of the medieval world, which makes its accessible price all the more appreciated.