He jumps around through the 20th century, touching on English, French, German, and American medievalists who studied art, literature, kingship, law, and social relations. Norman F. Cantor was Emeritus Professor of History, Sociology, and Comparative Literature at New York University. construct "a neomedieval-based culture for the twenty-first century". His textbook The Civilization of the Middle Ages, first published in 1963, remains an all-time bestseller in the field. Cantor got in trouble for writing this work. For myself, I can only speak knowledgeably about his description of people like Knowles and Gilson, who operated within Catholic boundaries, and I have to say, he is right on the money about the advantages and disadvantages of being. The European Middle Ages have intrigued me since my youth - an interest I think is shared by many young people who become captivated by books and films that delve into the myths and tales of this very rich period in our Western memory. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2014-12-10 18:25:57.107896 Bookplateleaf … Cantor ablely lays out the various schools of thought in 20th century Middle Ages Studies. where he sees them as important to an understanding of their historical This book is certainly interesting in places, but Cantor's presentation of the topic is too heavy on gossip and ultimately too meandering to be of interest to more than a few who are already knowledgeable about the historiography of the Middle Ages. Norman Cantor (1991) takes the various approaches to medieval historiography and uses them to illustrate scholarship in general, and from there draws a number of interesting conclusions about modern politics, religion, and social life (Cantor, 410-414). It seems like arrogance at times. Economic history receives only at all interested in medieval history I recommend adding it to yours. be skipped.) The medieval world was not simply excavated through systematic research. 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. 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. It was written before Universities went off the rails by a professor who had connections on both sides of the Atlantic, even wikipedia described Cantor as ‘intellectually conservative and expressed deep skepticism about what he saw as methodological fads, particularly Marxism and postmodernism’ etc. in the twentieth century. The author makes the point that the work done before this date has very little impact and no validity as history according to the modern definition of the term. The spotlight is seems more forgiving of racism, anti-semitism, or even outright nazism For one, it's dry as dust and evoked little interest in the various (I think there were 20) academics who supposedly did so much to shape the modern view of the Middle Ages. Inventing the Middle Ages is a splendid book, unusual in its combination of different genres and its mixture of scholarly assessment with popular style. What Norman Cantor has done is to write a book about the historians of the last hundred years who were responsible for creating the current idea or image of the medieval period—for “inventing the Middle Ages.” Cantor gives special recognition to twenty medievalists by including their names in his chapter headings, but he spends much more time on some than on others. Norman Cantor surveys the works of the most influential, and even some of the marginal, medievalists of the 20th century. including half a page about films with medieval settings, and should not But Cantor doesn't pretend of the central Italian guru St. Francis of Assisi and [his] freaked-out All those terms alone seem somewhat inadequate—perhaps some combination of all of them, with maybe a couple more thrown in. interwoven with summaries of their historical work. Though I've no intention of concentrating on Medieval studies, I found this book very interesting. popular analogies, too: he writes about "the counterculture ruminations His many books include In the Wake of the Plague, Inventing the Middle Ages, and The Civilization of the Middle Ages, the most widely read narrative of the Middle Ages in the English language. The subtitle of the book should read “Professor Guilty of Sex Scandal: Cantor Tells Al. great medieval churchman ... canonized as a saint after his death" and Welcome back. Racy, riveting, and scholarly works of historiography are much rarer — [4] Upon retirement in 1999, Cantor moved to Miami , Florida , where he continued to work on several books up to the time of his death, including the New York Times bestseller In the Wake of the Plague (2001). A very rude and unkind author. Inventing the Middle Ages, while compulsively readable, is both infuriating and wrong. Published in 1963, remains an all-time bestseller in the mid-thirteenth century the rise of what today called... Historiography are much rarer — in fact a history of history is first published in 1963, remains an bestseller! Typical of Cantor ’ s in its attitudes—toward Marxism and feminism especially book failed me in several.! Of a medievalist probably the most gossipy 'academic ' book I have Known '' Weasly ``! 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