Like It Or Not, History Is Vital

A world lit only by fire (Photo credit: One lucky guy)

Well, I’m still working my way through William Manchester’s “A World Lit Only By Fire, The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance.” It’s slow going, but not because it’s boring. Manchester fills the book to bursting with a plethora of facts and observations that keep coming page after page until the mind spins. For people who like to think, it’s intoxicating stuff.I’m not going to attempt a review at this point. Heck, I may not even try when I’ve finished. There’s just too much material here to process. If I may, though, let me give you an idea of the broad story Manchester is trying to tell and why it is so important for all of us to hear.

He starts us in the Dark Ages, about A.D. 400 to A.D. 1000, after the Roman Empire had perished. Say what you will about Rome, it was the unifying force of civilization in the world at that time. Without it, order collapsed and chaos rushed in to fill the void.  Chillingly, Manchester points out that among the many reasons for Rome’s fall were “apathy and bureaucratic absolutism.” Sound familiar?

During this time the intellectual life of Europe was gone. Manchester describes the Dark Ages as a portrait of “incessant warfare, corruption, lawlessness, obsession with strange myths, and an almost impenetrable mindlessness.” At this point the future did not look any too bright.

Fortunately, we humans know how to push ahead. At about the halfway mark in the book, the story I see is humanity’s struggle to reclaim civilization and the battle for which ideas  will be its cornerstone. Yes, Christianity and humanism are the main combatants again. But in this arena neither side is attractive. As Manchester tells us, Christianity survived despite the medieval Christians, not because of them.

I’ll write more as I get further into this book, but so far it is an amazing story. The older I get, the more I come to realize how important history is and how poor a job our schools are doing teaching it.

Here’s a little thought experiment for you. Imagine that the United States collapses tomorrow, for whatever reason. Take your time and think. What would happen in the short-term and in the long-term? What would happen to the world?

Later.

 

A Miscellany for Monday

Famous posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, if there is such a thing, “Happy Monday!”I have finished the writing assignment about Johnny Appleseed that I posted on about a week or so ago. Not having written under a deadline in many years, I must say it went pretty well. Now it’s up to the editors. I’ll tell you more when I’m able.

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I was thinking about my previous post on Chesterton and the opening quote has stuck in my mind: “This is the first principle of democracy: that the essential things in men are the things they hold in common, not the things they hold separately.”

It seems so obvious, yet everywhere one looks there is an emphasis on diversity and multiculturalism, things that divide and separate us as a people.

In the “Dictionary of Phrase & Fable” there is an entry titled “Divide and Govern.” Here’s what it says: “Divide a nation into parties, or set your enemies at loggerheads, and you can have your own way. A maxim of Machiavelli. . .”

So, who’s having their own way?

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The book I’m currently reading is “A World Lit Only By Fire; The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance” by William Manchester (Back Bay Books, 1993).

Be glad you don’t live in the Dark Ages. It was a nasty, brutish time when human life was very cheap. Manchester is an excellent writer and brings to one’s attention many fascinating aspects of this time in history. Like this: “The most baffling, elusive, yet in many ways the most significant dimensions of the medieval mind were invisible and silent. One was the medieval man’s total lack of ego. Even those with creative powers had no sense of self.”

What a contrast with today, where even people with no creative powers are absolutely full of self!