The evolution of the medieval world: society, government and thought in Europe, 312-1500 (review)

214 Reviews the advice contained in the lady Dhuoda's Handbook for William: a Carolingian woman's counselfor her son may have been responsible for his death. The ermegence of understated themes such as this remind one of the usefulness of narrative in history and of the continuing appropriateness of books about great figures. This is a substantial work of revisionist history by a major scholar which cannot be recommended too highly. John Moorhead Department of History University of Queensland Nicholas, David, The evolution of the medieval world: society, government and thought in Europe, 312-1500, London and N.Y., Longman, 1992; paper; pp. xiv, 544; 13 maps; R.R.P. AUS$47.99 Good general textbooks of medieval history that one can confidentiy recommend to students are hard to come by. The offering by David Nicholas seeks to provide a global survey of medieval European civilization as i t evolved between two dates traditionally established as defining the Middle Ages: the accession of Constantine and the end of thefifteenthcentury. To attempt to cover such a wide span is a tall order. The key challenge facing the author of any such textbook istofindan organizing principle capable of embracing what are seen to be the salient features of the period under review. The approach adopted by David Nicholas is a traditional one, emphasising continuities within medieval civilization Taking nothing for granted in terms of prior knowledge in his readers, he begins with swift overviews of Roman civilization, the origins of Christianity, and the three major cultural groupings around tbe Mediterranean prior to the eighth century: tribal Europe, Byzantium, and the Arab world. This is then followed by a concise account of the emergence of Carolingian Europe, summarizing such complex phenomena as the rise of feudalism and the grwoth of trade with a brevity which wUl undoubtedly satisfy undergraduate students looking for a swift summary of a difficult subject. Whether such matter of fact conciseness is to be encouraged is, however, another matter. The presentation of the more complex world of the central and high Middle Ages is a little more confusing. Taking for granted the priority of political history, Nicholas summarizes political developments of individual regions in Europe in rather piecemeal fashion. This is history from the top Reviews 215 down. W e are introduced to German emperors in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries before going back in time to be given potted summaries in turn of English and French history from the eleventh century on. The assumption seems to be that one can write a history of Europe by simply cobbling together a succession of different national histories. Thematic chapters on nobles and Crusaders, social and economic changes, and on intellectual and spiritual developments are more satisfying, although they are inevitably so brief that one worries whether students might simply rely on them to get through an exam. The author's emphasis is on giving the facts rather than in raising questions of methodology. The last section of the book, on the Late Middle Ages, is the least satisfactory, perhaps because it tries to cover too much ground in too short a space. The picture presented is a conventional one of dissolution of an established order. Litde thought seems to nave been given to understanding those forces shaping a new kind of culture infifteenth-centuryEurope, above all within an urban context. In a sense this is tbe consequence of adopting a very antiquated notion of 1500 as 'the end of the Middle Ages'. To continue with the myth of the period betwen 312 and 1500 as a single phase in European civUization is perhaps to invite an unsatisfactory conclusion. The book still takes five hundred pages to cover the ground the author has chosen. For those very general courses on medieval history such as might still be offered tofirstyear students, this book might provide some light for a complete novice. One would hope, however, that students would soon advance to more sophisticated reflections on historical processes. Constant M e w s Department of History Monash University Owen, D. D. R., Eleanor of Aquitaine: queen and legend, Oxford and Cambridge Mass., Blackwell, 1993; cloth; pp. x, 256; 15 plates, 1 map...