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The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
What's the difference between a Guelph and a Ghibelline? How many lines of verse are in a ghazal? Whatever happened to the Ostrogoths? Medieval enthusiasts can now thoroughly indulge their curiosity with this fully illustrated A to Z reference book presented by Norman F. Cantor, one of the world's most distinguished medieval scholars.
From the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance, this comprehensive work presents the full pageant of medieval times across the entire Old World, with articles on the New World, Africa, and the Far East as well. Twenty major essays anchor the text while more than 600 entries written by a coterie of the world's best medieval historians and writers provide specific information on everything from the Abbadid Dynasty to the Seal of Zug. Interspersed throughout are maps, diagrams, and more than 250 color and black-and-white illustrations detailing all the elements of everyday life: dress, locales, edifices, ceremonies, customs, military tactics, travel, home life, commerce, religion, and royalty. And at every opportunity, material is compared with the modern life through "then and now" images, an ingenious tool that sheds new light on the origins of modern social and political phenomena.
Interest in the Middle Ages is stronger than ever as it becomes more and more evident that the modern period has much more in common with the medieval world than previously imagined. Authoritative, entertaining, and full of the excitement and grandeur of a remarkable period in human history, The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages is an indispensable home reference work that will---with every page---deliver readers into the heart of the Middle Ages.
From the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance, this comprehensive work presents the full pageant of medieval times across the entire Old World, with articles on the New World, Africa, and the Far East as well. Twenty major essays anchor the text while more than 600 entries written by a coterie of the world's best medieval historians and writers provide specific information on everything from the Abbadid Dynasty to the Seal of Zug. Interspersed throughout are maps, diagrams, and more than 250 color and black-and-white illustrations detailing all the elements of everyday life: dress, locales, edifices, ceremonies, customs, military tactics, travel, home life, commerce, religion, and royalty. And at every opportunity, material is compared with the modern life through "then and now" images, an ingenious tool that sheds new light on the origins of modern social and political phenomena.
Interest in the Middle Ages is stronger than ever as it becomes more and more evident that the modern period has much more in common with the medieval world than previously imagined. Authoritative, entertaining, and full of the excitement and grandeur of a remarkable period in human history, The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages is an indispensable home reference work that will---with every page---deliver readers into the heart of the Middle Ages.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1999
About the author
Norman F. Cantor
96 books95 followersBorn in Winnipeg, Canada, Cantor received his B.A. at the University of Manitoba in 1951. He went on to get his master's degree in 1953 from Princeton University and spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford. He received his doctorate from Princeton in 1957 under the direction of the eminent medievalist Joseph R. Strayer.
After teaching at Princeton, Cantor moved to Columbia University from 1960 to 1966. He was a Leff professor at Brandeis University until 1970 and then was at SUNY Binghamton until 1976, when he took a position at University of Illinois at Chicago for two years. He then went on to New York University, where he was professor of history, sociology and comparative literature. After a brief stint as Fulbright Professor at the Tel Aviv University History Department (1987–88), he devoted himself to working as a full-time writer.
Although his early work focused on English religious and intellectual history, Cantor's later scholarly interests were far more diverse, and he found more success writing for a popular audience than he did engaging in more narrowly-focused original research. He did publish one monograph study, based on his graduate thesis, Church, kingship, and lay investiture in England, 1089-1135, which appeared in 1958 and remains an important contribution to the topic of church-state relations in medieval England. Throughout his career, however, Cantor preferred to write on the broad contours of Western history, and on the history of academic medieval studies in Europe and North America, in particular the lives and careers of eminent medievalists. His books generally received mixed reviews in academic journals, but were often popular bestsellers, buoyed by Cantor's fluid, often colloquial, writing style and his lively critiques of persons and ideas, both past and present. Cantor was intellectually conservative and expressed deep skepticism about what he saw as methodological fads, particularly Marxism and postmodernism, but also argued for greater inclusion of women and minorities in traditional historical narratives. In both his best-selling Inventing the Middle Ages and his autobiography, Inventing Norman Cantor, he reflected on his strained relationship over the years with other historians and with academia in general.
Upon retirement in 1999, Cantor moved to Miami, Florida, where he continued to work on several books up to the time of his death.
After teaching at Princeton, Cantor moved to Columbia University from 1960 to 1966. He was a Leff professor at Brandeis University until 1970 and then was at SUNY Binghamton until 1976, when he took a position at University of Illinois at Chicago for two years. He then went on to New York University, where he was professor of history, sociology and comparative literature. After a brief stint as Fulbright Professor at the Tel Aviv University History Department (1987–88), he devoted himself to working as a full-time writer.
Although his early work focused on English religious and intellectual history, Cantor's later scholarly interests were far more diverse, and he found more success writing for a popular audience than he did engaging in more narrowly-focused original research. He did publish one monograph study, based on his graduate thesis, Church, kingship, and lay investiture in England, 1089-1135, which appeared in 1958 and remains an important contribution to the topic of church-state relations in medieval England. Throughout his career, however, Cantor preferred to write on the broad contours of Western history, and on the history of academic medieval studies in Europe and North America, in particular the lives and careers of eminent medievalists. His books generally received mixed reviews in academic journals, but were often popular bestsellers, buoyed by Cantor's fluid, often colloquial, writing style and his lively critiques of persons and ideas, both past and present. Cantor was intellectually conservative and expressed deep skepticism about what he saw as methodological fads, particularly Marxism and postmodernism, but also argued for greater inclusion of women and minorities in traditional historical narratives. In both his best-selling Inventing the Middle Ages and his autobiography, Inventing Norman Cantor, he reflected on his strained relationship over the years with other historians and with academia in general.
Upon retirement in 1999, Cantor moved to Miami, Florida, where he continued to work on several books up to the time of his death.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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December 15, 2019This book was published in 1999, just before the explosion of that newfangled internet thing arguably began to make reference books of the sort somewhat obsolete. I'm old school, though, in most respects--to the degree that's practical or permissible these days--and I'm glad I digested The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages in its original form. It seems most appropriate that an archaic paper book should have been responsible for invigorating and extending my knowledge of this immense, multifaceted, misnamed, and misunderstood epoch of world and western history.
July 7, 2009
This is a beautiful book that I just like to sit and flip through randomly from time to time.
December 10, 2021
The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages by Norman F. Cantor is a great recourse for all avid history lovers. unlike most history books I have read, this book gives you all the information without being biased or glorifying bad things. For example, a lot of books about the holy crusades either glorify the atrocities that were committed, or they put all of the crusaders in the same villainous basket. This encyclopedia however, not only makes sure to let people know that this was not a righteous war, but explains the reasons people did the things they did.
However, this book does have its own problems. on occasion, I would leave one topic more confused then when I first read it. While the information in the book is great, it would often rely on you having read certain columns for information, but it was hard to tell what columns you had to read.
All in all, this book is a great recourse, no matter if you are writing an assignment or are just interested in history.
However, this book does have its own problems. on occasion, I would leave one topic more confused then when I first read it. While the information in the book is great, it would often rely on you having read certain columns for information, but it was hard to tell what columns you had to read.
All in all, this book is a great recourse, no matter if you are writing an assignment or are just interested in history.
August 8, 2022
This book is not worth reading because it contains inaccurate information. Just one example, in the entry for Waldensians it says that only small numbers of the group remained in an isolated region only through the 17th century. My great-grandparents came from a Waldensian community in what is now Italy and I can attest that they still exist since I have been to the “Valli Valdesi” and met many in the 21st century. There are still Waldensian churches not just in Italy but also in a handful of other countries. Also the section on Jews was strange, it went very in depth on the social inequality within the community but didn’t talk about much else.
January 19, 2021
Yes, it really took me over a year to read this---one article at a time. :) But I learned a lot, even in one article segments.
January 28, 2025
good reference material if you don't want to google each topic.
April 11, 2008
Not particularly nuanced, but fun to flip through. I especially enjoy the lavish color illustrations. (And I got my copy for just five dollars.)
July 4, 2011
A good general encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Although I cannot tell which came first, this is almost an exact match for Cantor's Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages.
July 4, 2011
A good general encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Although I cannot tell which came first, this is almost an exact match for Cantor's Pimilco Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews