The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

by Andrew Cunningham, Ole Peter Grell

Using the prism of DUrer's woodcut, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Andrew Cunningham and Ole Grell offer a new and exciting interpretation of European history in the period 1490 to 1648. DUrer's image came to characterize the outlook of most early modern Europeans, who saw repeated episodes of war, epidemics and famine as indicating the imminent end of the world. Lavishly illustrated with fascinating contemporary images, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse brings together religious, social, military and medical history, giving readers a unique insight into the early modern world. Andrew Cunningham is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science in the University of Cambridge. His most recent book is The Anatomical Renaissance (1997). Ole Peter Grell is a Lecturer in Early Modern History at the Open University, Milton Keynes. Among his recent books are Calvinist Exiles in Tudor and Stuart England (Scolar Press, 1997) and Paracelsus: The Man and His Reputation (Brill Academic Publishers, 1998). Together the authors have published Health Care and Poor Relief in Protestant Europe 1500-1700 (Routledge, 1997) and Health Care and Poor Relief in Counter-Reformation Europe (Routledge, 1999). Since 1998 they have edited the series History of Medicine in Context published by Ashgate.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction

374 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2001

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cunningham and Grell explore Europe’s “apocalyptic age” of religious war, between about 1500 and 1648. They use the four horsemen in the book of Revelation as organizing themes to examine developments in popular religion, warfare, food provision, and disease control. I had assumed that this period was an age of fanaticism run riot, and that we’ve mainly put such madness behind us. But actually, the words and deeds of the crusading ideologues sounded extremely familiar. The same basic conspiracy theory still appears on every side: Evil forces have seized control of the world, thwarting God’s rule. The righteous must rise up to overthrow them in a great battle for a final solution to evil. Of course the face of God’s enemy has changed with the time and place. We’ve had the Roman Catholic Antichrist, the Jewish world conspiracy, the godless communists, the blood-sucking capitalists, or the cabal of cannibalistic pedophiles. Our popular demand for the apocalyptic story line remains off the charts, as seen in the blockbuster “Left Behind” series books, which make the book of Revelation look like just a prologue. But Cunningham and Grell also show the rise of another theme, where the Reformation era’s many catastrophes drew people together, forming associations to improve food supplies, provide healthcare, or resolve conflicts. They took steps toward promoting constructive debate and mutual benefit. A lot of people got sick of indoctrination or demonization contests. Maybe over time we’ve gotten a bit more focused on asking what works than asking who to believe.

[Richelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cunningham and Grell deconstruct the period from 1428 to 1648 in terms of Albrecht Durer's print of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The writing is extremely well organized, and the authors' research covers a variety of fields, such as military history, medicine, astrology, engineering, theology, and politics. The text takes you on a relatively smooth transition from late medieval period to the early modern period, and gives an expansive look across Europe and the Middle East. Personally, I enjoyed the numerous prints and paintings included in the text to illustrate the iconography of the times. The text is scholarly, however, and requires some knowledge of key wars (the Thirty Years War and Eighty Years War, for example) during the period, as well as religious movements such as the Protestant Reformation.

[Sherwin]

really accurate and imclusive...

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely interesting look at religion in Reformation Europe! Even non-history majors will be able to get drawn into this book!