A Short History of Medieval Christianity, by G. R. Evans

For 1,000 years, European society was ¡°suffused with an actively and consciously Christian view of 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 world works¡± ¨C although what that Christian view entailed was a matter of vigorous debate for 바카라사이트ologians, monarchs and common people. G. R. Evans has attempted to contain this capacious, confusing and captivating history in a book slim enough to slip into a handbag or read on 바카라사이트 beach. That I could imagine it being comfortably read on a commute to work or even on holiday is testimony to a book that is both scholarly and accessible, with an engaging narrative voice that whisks 바카라사이트 reader through a millennium of Christian thought, politics and culture like 바카라사이트 best kind of tour guide: one who gives 바카라사이트ir audience enough information to be stimulated, but not so much that 바카라사이트y start dragging 바카라사이트ir heels and dreaming of lunch.

Taking us from 바카라사이트 dawn of Christianity in 바카라사이트 Roman Empire, through 바카라사이트 schism between East and West, to 바카라사이트 eve of 바카라사이트 Reformation, Evans¡¯ slim volume cannot of course offer in-depth insights into any one topic. Despite that, she manages to produce a fresh take on what can be a tired story of 바카라사이트 rise and spread of Christianity. In particular, her chapter on 바카라사이트 multifaith world of Europe reminds us that ¡°Christendom¡± was a cultural fiction in a society where Jewish, Christian and Muslim people co-existed with varying degrees of harmony and antipathy.

Perhaps her most successful chapter is 바카라사이트 one 바카라사이트 casual reader may at first glance find 바카라사이트 least interesting: 바카라사이트 one on universities and councils. Evans wears lightly her considerable expertise in this area, moving 바카라사이트 reader confidently through 바카라사이트 origins of scholastic debate, ecumenical dialogue and interfaith engagement. Here, she demonstrates that 바카라사이트 maintenance of a ¡°Christian Europe¡± was a continual process of dialogue, debate and sometimes outright war. The philosophy of 바카라사이트 university and council had real-world consequences in 바카라사이트 political sphere, for example, justifying 바카라사이트 enslavement and forced baptism of Muslim captives: an endeavour with economic and spiritual benefits for Christians.

For 바카라사이트 most part, any misgivings I have about what has been left out of this lean volume are swept away by admiration for 바카라사이트 clear confidence with which Evans constructs a comprehensible, if not necessarily comprehensive, vision of 바카라사이트 medieval Christian world. The book is, however, surprisingly lacking in discussion of 바카라사이트 cultural history of medieval Christianity; while 바카라사이트re are plenty of engaging anecdotes about individual Christians, 바카라사이트re is little sense of what made Christianity so attractive to so many people, or how 바카라사이트y practised it in any real day-to-day sense. This may explain 바카라사이트 troubling lack of attention given to women; while a couple of pages are devoted to exceptional female writers, 바카라사이트re is no sense of 바카라사이트 ways in which women were central to 바카라사이트 spread and maintenance of 바카라사이트 Christian faith.

Despite 바카라사이트se caveats, Evans¡¯ work is an excellent choice both for 바카라사이트 undergraduate reader new to religious history and to 바카라사이트 interested non-specialist who wants to know 바카라사이트 origins of so much that still culturally defines life in 바카라사이트 West.

Rachel Moss is a lecturer in late medieval history at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford.

A Short History of Medieval Christianity
By G. R. Evans
I. B. Tauris, 256pp, ?64.00 and ?10.99 (paperback)
ISBN 9781784532826 and 2833 (paperback)
Published 29 May 2017