The birth of the West

This is a fresh, enlightening reinterpretation of how European civilization as we know it arose in the wake of utter chaos in Rome, France and Germany - not in the 11th or 12th century, as is commonly thought, but during the 10th. The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. All effective gove [...]
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This is a fresh, enlightening reinterpretation of how European civilization as we know it arose in the wake of utter chaos in Rome, France and Germany - not in the 11th or 12th century, as is commonly thought, but during the 10th. The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. All effective government had broken down. Charlemagne's empire was divided, the whole of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. Vikings raided villages throughout Europe with impunity, Muslim pirates controlled the Mediterranean, and people across the continent lived in fear and chaos. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to medieval expert Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our culture's birth, of the emergence of our civilization into the light of day. The fact is, by the end of the tenth century order had been restored in Germany, Christian Spain was expanding, Italy was suddenly prospering, the Vikings were no longer a threat, and much of Europe seemed to be on the rise.This shift - the birth of the West as we know it - had come about because German-Saxon rulers like Henry the Fowler, Otto I, II, and III, and the Greek-born Empress Theophano were able to bring order out of chaos and imagine and realize a new and better way of governing society. The Birth of the West tells the story of this transformation from chaos to order, and explores the strange and alien landscape of Europe in transition. It is a fascinating narrative, thoroughly renovating old-fashioned conceptions of feudalism and what medieval life was actually like. The result is a wholly new vision of how civilization as we know it sprang from the unlikeliest of origins, and proof that our tenth century ancestors are not so remote as we might think.