For many years now there has been an astonishing interest in the Middle Ages. The popularity in Germany of exhibitions such as on the Staufer (1977) and the House of Wittelsbach (1980) and the tremendous number of books recently published on historical matters bear witness to this. Opinions differ as to the cause and depth of this interest. The publication of Umberto Eco's immensely popular mediaeval novel The Name of the Rose can certainly be said to have roused this interest and stimulated it, although it is doubtful whether the majority of readers would understand and appreciate the vast number of historical references in it. It is probably largely the ambience of the distant, mysterious world of the monastery and the events described that account for the fascination of this book for readers. For many people, the historical imagination needs the stimulation of the senses if it is - perhaps - to develop into an interest based on facts.
Many observers regard with suspicion this interest in the Middle Ages, in history generally, and talk of an escape into the past. They say it comes from a deep-seated need for guidance-a need which it is increasingly difficult to meet in our highly complicated world. Faced with the complexities of the present and incapable, even unwilling, to come to terms with them, many people retreat into an oversimplified view of the distant past.
There is something to this criticism, but it seems excessively pessimistic in view of the chances such a return to the past can offer. It is clear that the facts of history are not facts in an empirically scientific-sense. Living as we do in the modern world we can, for example, feel gratified at our relatively high standard of living and long life expectancy compared to the hard life led by people in the Middle Ages. We may be astonished at many things our sense of rationality cannot grasp. And we are perhaps distressed that, in spite of all the progress that has been made, the loss of enchantment resulting from our rationality has left a vacuum in our senses that can, at the most, be only tolerably well concealed by a general bustle of activity. There are many ways of comparing ourselves with the past. If we pause to think for a while, we can examine the present day, our own lives, our feelings, our thoughts and the way we think in the distant mirror of the past. If we occupy ourselves with history, we thus give ourselves an opportunity to reflect - and this is an opportunity that is occasionally used.
By saying this I do not mean that history can teach us to predict future events or guide us in our actions. It would be naive to think this would be so, and anyway, this way of thinking is an extremely onedimensional view of usefulness. But if all this talk of the opportunities of reflection offered by occupying ourselves with history is not to sound too vague, we should at least use an example here to show how historical facts can be used. But let us not forget that emotion always plays a part in our approach to historical events. During our contemplations, it is worth checking which values our emotions are related to. Let us look at the first example: our gratification or satisfaction at our relatively high standard of living and longer life expectancy. It might seem obvious to imagine one is a mediaeval peasant, crusading knight or monk and to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of life in those days, but attempts to
Judge historic progress in this way get us nowhere. Can historical progress be judged at all? Is there a reasonable yardstick for comparing life in the various epochs of our history? - If, through our interest in history, we ask such questions, we have already seized the opportunities offered by reflection.
This book aims at encouraging, in an imaginative and entertaining way, an interest in historical facts and a philosophical and historic contemplation of the material. There are the many illustrations in the book to spur the reader's imagination. The text itself is both highly readable and stimulating and takes into account the fact that readers cannot be expected to know a lot about the Middle Ages. The structure of the book, illuminating everyday life in the Middle Ages and dealing with sociological, economic, political and cultural aspects, is such that it can be read as an introduction to this period. The material at our disposal is so diverse and covers such a large area that it has been deemed necessary to concentrate on the high Middle Ages (approximately the 11th to 13th centuries) and on the geographic region of the Holy Roman Empire. If, after having read the book, the reader wants to know more about the Middle Ages, there is a clearly laid-out bibliography at the end. Most of the titles, however, are in German.
In our choice of illustrations we have included work from the late Middle Ages. These illustrations are more realistic in detail than earlier work, which by comparison is cruder and more stylized. This is an important advantage, and although they are outside our period, the contents of the pictures - and this is the main thing - also tell us a lot about the period between A. D. 1000 and A. D. 1300.
Finally, thanks are due to the authors, who largely had to work without editorial co-ordination. This explains the occasional overlaps in the essays, which, however, scarcely reduce the diversity of the aspects covered. are particularly due to Mr. Klaus Kramp for his help in choosing the illustrations and writing the captions. The editor would also like to thank everybody involved in making this book.
Rolf Toman
World History
