Review Of William Manchester's A World Lit Only By Fire

Review of William Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire

William Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire: the Medieval Mind and the Renaissance is a historical, nonfiction book that I found to be both only intriguing and enticing, despite its beginning and ending parts. The beginning chapter of Manchester's book, "The Medieval Mind," was quite slow and overly informative, although a bright spot was illuminated with the discussion of peasant life and customs in the Dark Ages. The ending section, "One Man Alone," seemed completely out of place when included with the rest of the story, although Manchester's extreme affinity to Magellan was painfully obvious. The middle story, however, was not only fascinating and well written, but researched outstandingly well. This middle part of the nonfiction, "The Shattering," overshadowed the rest of the book with its alluring anecdotes of medieval, Church, and Renaissance history. This chapter was the bulk of the volume, and thank heavens for it, for otherwise Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire would have been a painstaking read and exceedingly dull.

"The Medieval Mind" was but a short twenty-eight pages, yet upon these pages Manchester put down a multitude, and perhaps a surplus, of facts. The first part was filled with strict history, telling of the Huns, Visigoths, and Osgoths. In what could have been a fascinating tale of history, Manchester transpired into lists of conquered nations, lands, and peoples. Picking himself up, Manchester then began to tell in eloquent detail the stories of those living during the Dark Ages and, thusly, the famines, plagues, and pandemics that cursed the time. More dreadful lists followed this, however, discussing varying religions of the time, such as Paganism. This discussion ultimately transgressed into the tale of Christianity's and Catholism's supremacy during the medieval era. Here, Manchester told of Aurelius Augustinus, who had an incredible impact on Christianity. One of his metaphors divided creation into the "city of God" and the "city of man," inferring that a theocracy was necessary for the fact men's spiritual powers came from God and that secular power should be subordinate. This reasoning was used for many years after by the Church when dealing with kings and emperors. The section went on to describe the changing mindset of intellectuals of the period, and the inspiration that led to a rebirth, the Renaissance, after the depravity of medieval times. Change, however, is not immediate, nor was it in transition from the violent middle ages to the enlightened renaissance. In "The Shattering," Manchester paints a grossly truthful picture of the Holy Roman Catholic Church in its continuing moral degeneration, especially for the papacy.

In this section, the book turns from history book to tales of fascinating debauchery and scandal, much of which revolves around the Church. Punishments of the time are relived for each reader, imagining making a pilgrimage which crossed most of France, the Alps, Hungary, and much more of Europe to get to Jerusalem while in shackles, only to do it two more times. This was Count Fulk the Black of Anjou penance after realizing his soul was in mortal peril after twenty years of sinning. Also included are the stories of the Borgias: Pope Alexander VI, his sons, Cesare and Juan, and his beautiful daughter, Lucrezia. Involved in this story is the incestual love the pontiff, Cesare, and Juan all shared for Lucrezia. Cesare killed not only Lucrezia's first husband, but also his brother Juan so that he may share his bed with Lucrezia. This, however, was all for naught since the Pope also loved to sleep with the woman, eventually impregnating her and thusly ruining her already soiled reputation. These stories were