Medieval Blogging

Research Portfolio Essay #5

November 27, 2006 at 12:55 am (Uncategorized)

Norman F. Cantor. Medieval Lives: Eight Charismatic Men and Women of the Middle Ages. 

         
New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. 188.

            Norman Cantor writes Medieval Lives in hopes to show the character of eight very important people during the Middle Ages.  Within the book, Cantor chooses to write about Helena Augusta, Augustine of Hippo, Alcuin of York, Humbert of Lorraine, Hildegard of Bingen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Robert Grosseteste, and John, Duke of Bedford.  These people were chosen on purpose, for it can be argued that these people exhibit the greatest of qualities during the Middle Ages.  Cantor tells of these people by storytelling.  He creates one situation for each character which will exemplify their remarkable personalities as well as show how they had helped their countries through a desperate time.  Because the novel is told through short stories rather than the normal biographical writings, readers can enjoy reading more than if the stories sounded like a dull textbook.  I think Cantor made a smart choice when choosing the format for his book because now the book appeals to readers who aren’t even interested in the Middle Ages.  A lot of the times, only people who are deeply intrigued by a subject will read a biographical text to learn more about the topic; in this text, the stories are so entertaining that everyone can enjoy reading it. 

            Each story brings something new to the text.  Within each story, we are able to gain knowledge about the character being portrayed but also about the time period in which these people lived.  We learn about the social, economic, political, and religious issues going on during the time.  In the story of Helena Augusta, we learn a brief biography of the mother of
Constantine through one event taking place in a bar and the conversation that occurs between
Helena and those who work there.  We learn where
Helena came from, that she is quite an admirer of alcohol, and also that she believes that women are just as equal as the men but understands why they cannot be.  She explains to the barmaid that “it is a Roman Church, after all, and Roman law gives an inferior status to women even in noble families” (9). 
Helena also goes into her opinions on the Christian religion, including her objections.  We are able to capture the noble view on religion as well as the peasant’s, with the responses of the bar workers.  All of the stories are like the one of Helena Augusta.  We get a view of one day in the life of these characters and through their actions and conversations with others, we get a larger view of the social, economic, political, and religious issues of the times.

            I would definitely say that Cantor has achieved his goal of enriching his readers’ knowledge of critical players during the Middle Ages.  He successfully gets his points across through the stories of each individual.  In some of the stories, he even mentions some of the other characters he has written about and ties one person to the other. 

            Though the short stories containing one specific event in time proves to be rather entertaining to the reader and also a quick read, this can pose a problem as well.  We get a glimpse into the lives of these individuals but we do not get the entire picture.  We see their thoughts, their actions, and the responses of others at one particular time of their life.  All of these things can change during the years, from youth to adulthood and from experience to experience.  For example, in the story of Hildegard of Bingen, we are told much of her life as an older woman and the contributions she made to religious writings and also to feminist theories, but we learn very little, if anything at all, of her childhood or how she became who she did.  We are completely unaware of events that led up to her great success.  The background knowledge is crucial to those who are deeply concerned with the Middle Ages, but I believe that this was not Cantor’s only audience when writing this book.  I feel that he wanted to reach out to people of all ages, studies, and interests.  And to accomplish this, he had to make sure he appeals to them all; he had to make his text more simplistic but more interesting that a textbook to appeal to the younger group and also to those not fully interested in medieval studies.  Also, he had to make sure his information was accurate and the most important of the individuals in order to appeal to those that were interested in medieval studies.  In this area, Cantor has been more than just successful; he has dominated in his appeal to all groups. 

            Cantor has succeeding in creating a set of short stories that helps to give explanations in medieval studies.  His choice of scenes taking place at one point in the individuals’ lives is the best of the best.  He couldn’t have chosen a better scene although he could have made a way to show more of their backgrounds.  By telling each of the stories, we as readers are able to successfully enhance our knowledge of the Middle Ages as well as the important people who contributed to the times.