Deze auteur verkende de brede contouren van de westerse geschiedenis en het landschap van academische middeleeuwse studies in Europa en Noord-Amerika. Hoewel de academische recensies vaak gemengd waren, werden zijn boeken regelmatig bestsellers, dankzij een vlotte, vaak informele schrijfstijl en levendige kritieken op personen en ideeën. Hoewel intellectueel conservatief en sceptisch over methodologische trends, pleitte hij voor een grotere inclusie van vrouwen en minderheden in traditionele historische vertellingen. Zijn werk reflecteerde vaak op zijn complexe relatie met de academische wereld en de evolutie van het historisch denken.
This book, first published in 1970, examines significant protest movements of the twentieth century and looks at the similarities and differences between the various dissents and rebellions. It discusses the emergence of protest as an ideal, a viable force for reform.
The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era
There may not be a more fascinating a historical period than the late fourteenth century in Europe. The Hundred Years' War ravaged the continent, yet gallantry, chivalry, and literary brilliance flourished in the courts of England and elsewhere. It was a world in transition, soon to be replaced by the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration -- and John of Gaunt was its central figure. In today's terms, John of Gaunt was a multibillionaire with a brand name equal to Rockefeller. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, sponsored Chaucer and proto-Protestant religious thinkers, and survived the dramatic Peasants' Revolt, during which his sumptuous London residence was burned to the ground. As head of the Lancastrian branch of the Plantagenet family, Gaunt was the unknowing father of the War of the Roses; after his death, his son usurped the crown from his nephew, Richard II. Gaunt's adventures represent the culture and mores of the Middle Ages as those of few others do, and his death is portrayed in The Last Knight as the end of that enthralling period.
Arguably the greatest biomedical disaster in history, the Black Death wiped out 40% of Europe's population, rocking the foundations of medieval civilisation. Leading medieval historian Norman F. Cantor offers a social history of the Black Death
Ring around the rosies,A pocketful of posies,Ashes, ashes,We all fall down.—"Ring Around the Rosies," a children's rhyme about the Black DeathThe Black Death was the fourteenth century's equivalent of a nuclear war. It wiped out one-third of Europe's population, taking some 20 million lives. And yet, most of what we know about it is wrong. The details of the Plague etched in the minds of terrified schoolchildren—the hideous black welts, the high fever, and the awful end by respiratory failure—are more or less accurate. But what the Plague really was and how it made history remain shrouded in a haze of myths.Now, Norman Cantor, the premier historian of the Middle Ages, draws together the most recent scientific discoveries and groundbreaking historical research to pierce the mist and tell the story of the Black Death as a gripping, intimate narrative.
This study contains almost 150 written texts in the form of short stories, essays, novels, biographies and memoirs to give the reader an insight into every aspect of Jewish life and experience. It includes contributions from many well-known Jews including Anne Frank, Philip Roth, and Franz Kafka.
A fascinating look at life in the Middle Ages that focuses on eight extraordinary medieval men and women through realistically invented conversations between them and their counterparts.
Now revised and expanded, this edition of the splendidly detailed and lively history of the Middle Ages contains more than 30 percent new material.
Inventing the Middle Ages: The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century In this ground-breaking work, Norman Cantor explains how our current notion of the Middle Ages-with its vivid images of wars, tournaments, plagues, saints and kings, knights and ladies-was born in the twentieth century. The medieval world was not simply excavated through systematic research. It had to be conceptually created: It had to be invented, and this is the story of that invention. Norman Cantor focuses on the lives and works of twenty of the great medievalists of this century, demonstrating how the events of their lives, and their spiritual and emotional outlooks, influenced their interpretations of the Middle Ages. Cantor makes their scholarship an intensely personal and passionate exercise, full of color and controversy, displaying the strong personalities and creative minds that brought new insights about the past. A revolution in academic method, this book is a breakthrough to a new way of teaching the humanities and historiography, to be enjoyed by student and general public alike. It takes an immense body of learning and transmits it so that readers come away fully informed of the essentials of the subject, perceiving the interconnection of medieval civilization with the culture of the twentieth century and having had a good time while doing it! This is a riveting, entertaining, humorous, and learned read, compulsory for anyone concerned about the past and future of Western civilization.
