From Publishers Weekly
As Jordan shows, the Middle Ages in Europe were indeed the best of times and worst of times. The beauties of Gothic architecture, the revivals of Latin literature, the rise of the university, the lyrical romances and chivalric chansons formed the high points of years that also witnessed famine, plague, political and religious squabbles, and the Crusades. Princeton historian Jordan (The Great Famine) marvelously weaves the many and various events of the years 1000-1350 into a splendid historical tapestry. He discusses how various European countries experienced the Middle Ages, putting to rest the notion that the era was monolithic and affected everyone the same way. The conflict between the Catholic Church and the state lies at the heart of the medieval period, and Jordan adeptly chronicles that struggle. As the monarchy gained power, the Church found that even voices within, such as monastic movements like the Franciscans and the Dominicans, sought reform. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Church found itself in a crisis that laid the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation. Jordan's magisterial survey indicates how rich and significant the Middle Ages were in forming European culture. That this is the inaugural volume in the Penguin History of Europe augurs very well for the series. Illus., maps. (On sale Jan. 27) Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
A glimpse of light between early medieval chaos and a plague-infested fourteenth century, the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were an era of significant cultural and economic progress as well as the time of most of the things we traditionally associate with the Middle Ages, including Gothic cathedrals, knights, Crusades, and courtly love. Contextualizing these and other high points, this book gives a balanced, comprehensive description of Europe's first renaissance. Jordan is both concise and thorough, covering all geographic regions and supplementing his political narrative (who begot whom, who beheaded whom) with occasional discussion of cultural advances and everyday life (as well as ever-helpful genealogical tables). He is also somewhat fast moving, assuming at least a basic understanding of the most major events as he points up the underlying themes that define the High Middle Ages: the increasing power of the papacy, the effect of philosophical and violent contact with Islam, difficulty in succession, and others. The third in Penguin's eight-part series in European history is highly accessible yet academic enough to be valuable as a collegiate text. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
It was an age of hope and possibility, of accomplishment and expansion. Europe's High Middle Ages spanned the Crusades, the building of Chartres Cathedral, Dante's Inferno, and Thomas Aquinas. Buoyant, confident, creative, the era seemed to be flowering into a true renaissance-until the disastrous fourteenth century rained catastrophe in the form of plagues, famine, and war.

In Europe in the High Middle Ages, William Chester Jordan paints a vivid, teeming landscape that captures this lost age in all its glory and complexity. Here are the great popes who revived the power of the Church against the secular princes; the writers and thinkers who paved the way for the Renaissance; the warriors who stemmed the Islamic tide in Spain and surged into Palestine; and the humbler estates, those who found new hope and prosperity until the long night of the 1300s. From high to low, from dramatic events to social structures, Jordan's account brings to life this fascinating age. Part of the Penguin History of Europe series, edited by David Cannadine.

About the Author
William Chester Jordan, former director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, is professor of history and director of the Program in Medieval Studies at Princeton University. His previous book, The Great Famine, won the Haskins Medal of the Medieval Academy in 2000.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It was an age of hope and possibility, of accomplishment and expansion. Europe's High Middle Ages spanned the Crusades and the building of Chartres Cathedral, Dante's Inferno, and Thomas Aquinas. Buoyant, confident, creative, the era seemed to be flowering into a true renaissance -- until the disastrous fourteenth century rained catastrophe in the form of plagues, famine, and war. In Europe in the High Middle Ages, William Chester Jordan paints a vivid, teeming landscape that captures this lost age in all its glory and complexity. Here are the great popes who revived the power of the Church against the secular princes; the writers and thinkers who paved the way for the Renaissance; the warriors who stemmed the Islamic tide in Spain and surged into Palestine; and the humbler estates, those who found new hope and prosperity until the long night of the 1300s. From high to low, from dramatic events to social structures, Jordan's account brings to life this fascinating age.

SYNOPSIS

Jordan (history, Princeton U.) presents a history of Europe from the year 1000 to the Black Plague of the mid-14th century. Detailed treatment of the dominant medieval lands in France and England are given alongside the histories of Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. Chapters are included on the investiture controversy, the First Crusade, architecture and literature in the 12th century, the pontificate of Innocent III, learning in the 13th century, and the famine of the 14th century (the last is the topic of an earlier book by Jordan). A series of b&w plates of architecture and an appendix with genealogical tables are included. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

As Jordan shows, the Middle Ages in Europe were indeed the best of times and worst of times. The beauties of Gothic architecture, the revivals of Latin literature, the rise of the university, the lyrical romances and chivalric chansons formed the high points of years that also witnessed famine, plague, political and religious squabbles, and the Crusades. Princeton historian Jordan (The Great Famine) marvelously weaves the many and various events of the years 1000-1350 into a splendid historical tapestry. He discusses how various European countries experienced the Middle Ages, putting to rest the notion that the era was monolithic and affected everyone the same way. The conflict between the Catholic Church and the state lies at the heart of the medieval period, and Jordan adeptly chronicles that struggle. As the monarchy gained power, the Church found that even voices within, such as monastic movements like the Franciscans and the Dominicans, sought reform. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Church found itself in a crisis that laid the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation. Jordan's magisterial survey indicates how rich and significant the Middle Ages were in forming European culture. That this is the inaugural volume in the Penguin History of Europe augurs very well for the series. Illus., maps. (On sale Jan. 27)

Library Journal

This volume inaugurates Viking's new series, which under the editorship of David Cannadine will eventually encompass eight volumes. Jordan (medieval studies, Princeton Univ.; The Great Famine) ranges from the 11th century to the beginning of the 14th century-a time of major growth and reform. The population of Europe increased significantly as a result of new agricultural technologies, the spread of the iron plow, and new practices such as the clearing and settlement of the vast forests of central Europe. This era witnessed the rise of great church reformers like Pope Leo IX and Abbot Hugh of Cluny and the creation of Dante's Divine Comedy and Thomas Aquinas's philosophy. Jordan surveys this society from high to low, from the worker in the fields to the popes and secular rulers, giving students and lay readers who are already interested in the era an excellent introduction that will build their enthusiasm. This should be the benchmark for judging a survey volume; highly recommended for large public and academic libraries.-Robert J. Andrews, Duluth P.L., MN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile

A chronicle of high ideals and cherished dreams￯﾿ﾽas well as famine, plague, holy war, and other apocalyptic horsemen in the making of Europe from the 11th to the 14th centuries. The year 1000, Haskins Medal￯﾿ﾽwinner Jordan (The Great Famine, 2000) writes, saw the arrival of remarkable change in Europe. The lifting of the Dark Ages brought with it a huge gain in population (from two million to ten million in England, from four to fourteen million in German-speaking countries, and so on) and great advances in technology, including the adoption of three-field farming and the heavy plow. All of this led to prosperity and happier times for long-suffering peoples. At the outset of this period, Jordan (History/Princeton Univ.) reminds us, the Church had comparatively little power and influence: "To be a Catholic in the year 1000 required little change in traditional behavior, in part because there were so few people who were actively monitoring behavior on behalf of that vague body so conveniently yet deceptively referred to under the monolithic label, the Church." Three hundred years later, things were different: Political and ecclesiastical powers were centralized, orthodoxies were in place, crusades had been fought, heretics had been routed and burned. In a wide-ranging narrative that embraces most of the continent and takes in enlightened rulers (Stephen of Hungary, Henry II), adventurers (Richard Lion-heart, Tancred), despots (Fulk Nerra, Henry III), and assorted saints and sages (Dominic, Thomas Aquinas), Jordan charts the course of this growing centralization and its eventual collapse under the weight of famine, disease, incompetence, and gunpowder. He writes elegantly and ironically ("therewas curiously little pacifism in the High Middle Ages"), giving the reader a broad but not dumbed-down view of medieval society and its complexities, which must have seemed to contemporaries very bewildering indeed. A splendid start to Penguin￯﾿ﾽs History of Europe series and a first-rate work in its own right.

Kirkus Reviews