Synopses & Reviews
How did the Virgin Mary, about whom very little is said in the Gospels, become one of the most powerful and complex religious figures in the world? To arrive at the answers to this far-reaching question, one of our foremost medieval historians, Miri Rubin, investigates the ideas, practices, and images that have developed around the figure of Mary from the earliest decades of Christianity to around the year 1600. Drawing on an extraordinarily wide range of sourcesincluding music, poetry, theology, art, scripture, and miracle talesRubin reveals how Mary became so embedded in our culture that it is impossible to conceive of Western history without her.
In her rise to global prominence, Mary was continually remade and reimagined by wave after wave of devotees. Rubin shows how early Christians endowed Mary with a fine ancestry; why in early medieval Europe her roles as mother, bride, and companion came to the fore; and how the focus later shifted to her humanity and unparalleled purity. She also explores how indigenous people in Central America, Africa, and Asia remade Mary and so fit her into their own cultures.
Beautifully written and finely illustrated, this book is a triumph of sympathy and intelligence. It demonstrates Marys endless capacity to inspire and her profound presence in Christian cultures and beyond.
Review
'“Freedman shows that spices are central to understanding the Middle Agesthey motivated the whole trading system of the Mediterranean world.”Christopher Dyer, University of Leicester
-- Michael Dirda - Washington Post'
Review
'“This is a magical book. With scintillating learning and imagination, Paul Freedman has conjured up a medieval Europe shot through with the magic of strong tastes and smells. He has uncovered a cravinga craving for spices which would eventually drive Europeans to the edges of the world in their pursuit. Freedman has done more than uncover the taste buds of a forgotten Europe. He has rewritten a fateful chapter in the history of the world.”Peter Brown, Princeton University
-- Christopher Dyer'
Review
“Like the spicesflavors, perfumes, and medicinalsso urgently sought by medieval populations,
Out of the East is a consummate delight. I loved Freedmans droll account of the debate over the precise geographical location of paradise (off the Atlantic? Northeast of India?), and of the tireless travelers who helped bring the spices of the East to European tables. At last, the voyages of Columbus make perfect sense. Spices!”Marion Nestle, New York University
-- Peter Brown
Review
“Paul Freedman combines his formidable scholarship with story-telling skills to offer a unique history of spice. He has taken our ancient fascination with spice as offering the taste of paradise, and as an elixir of life to paint a rich canvas of life in medieval Europe, dispelling in the process many commonly held myths.
Out of the East is a riveting story of many adventures launched in the quest of spice and how it shaped European social life. Freedman serves history as a delectable banquet.”Nayan Chanda, author of
Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization -- Marion Nestle
Review
"[An] absorbing new history, in which [Freedman] uses food to get and keep our attention."Corby Kummer, Yale Alumni Magazine -- Nayan Chanda
Review
'\"Written in an approachable style with intriguing images and inset quotes from primary sources, this scholarly work will also appeal to general readers. . . . Recommended.\"Choice -- Corby Kummer, - Yale Alumni Magazine'
Review
'\"Meticulously researched but wearing its erudition lightly.\"--Sharon Kinoshita, Speculum--A Journal of Medieval Studies -- Choice'
Review
'\"Miri Rubins Mother of God is an intellectually exuberant tour-de-force. Like the great cloak that in some medieval images billows out from the Virgin, enclosing her rapt worshipers, this book reaches out to embrace a startling range of human dreams, fears, and hopes across many centuries.\"Stephen Greenblatt, Harvard University -- Susan E. Cayleff - Society for Historians of the Early American Republic'
Review
'\'“This is a book to fascinate the social historian. Here is wide learning, elegantly expressed. A brilliant and enlightening study of the religious imagination.”Sr. Wendy Beckett, author of
Sister Wendy on Prayer -- Stephen Greenblatt\''
Review
'“Mother of God is a breathtaking work of scholarship, surely the finest account of Marys impact on world culture from biblical up to modern times. Miri Rubin captures Marys profound appealas mother and virgin, chaste and fertile, chosen and modest, life-giver and mournerand as an inspiration to countless artists, writers, and believers. Its a remarkable achievement by one of the most gifted historians at work today.”James Shapiro, Columbia University -- Sr. Wendy Beckett'
Review
'“Rubin is adept at keeping the reader turning the pages. She has a gift of the
bon mot.”
History Today -- James Shapiro'
Review
'\'\\\"In this magisterial work . . . Rubin traces Marys rise to global prominence from the time of the early Christian empire to the 16th century. . . . [D]epict[s] the shift in representations of Mary through history. . . . Extensively researched and written for a wide audience.\\\"From the citation for the April Selection of the Catholic Book Club -- History Today\''
Review
'\'“Miri Rubin captivatingly elucidates the history of one of the worlds greatest narratives.”The Rumpus -- Catholic Book Club - America\''
Review
'\'\\\"Unparalleled in scope, clarity, and scholarly reach, the book immerses readers in many forms of private and public veneration...The story and history of Marys unique holiness, her sacred and emotional presence, the awe and mystery of her, has never been told so well.\\\"--Timothy C. Miller, Magills Literary Annual 2010 -- Rumpus\''
Review
'\'\\\"This book is an important new landmark in the study of Marian piety.\\\"--Stephen J. Shoemaker, American Historical Review -- Timothy C. Miller - Magill\\\'s Literary Annual 2010\''
Review
'\'\\\"Rubins book is and will long be indispensable to future work on this most prominent of global religious figures.\\\"--Cleo McNelly Kearns, Speculum -- Stephen J. Shoemaker - American Historical Review\''
Review
'Winner of the 2008 Cundill International Prize in History, given by the Cundill Foundation at McGill University. -- Jessie Forand - Burlington Free Press'
Review
'\'\\\"In this superb and strikingly original book, Stuart Schwartz raises an audacious thesis that is sure to excite attention and controversy.\\\"Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Tufts University
-- Cundill International Prize in History - Cundhill Foundation\''
Review
'\"This book is a major achievement by a senior historian with a long history of prolific and insightful scholarship. It will become one of those cherished classics that change the way we think.\"Teofilo F. Ruiz, UCLA
-- Felipe Fernndez-Armesto'
Review
'“Not many academic histories make you laugh out loud. Schwartz shows ordinary people using vulgarity and humor to convince inquisitors that sex between single people was no sin, and that all sincere believers (Muslim, Christians, Protestants) would be savedeven though they knew such defiance normally led to savage punishments. This is a book you must read.”Geoffrey Parker, author of
The Grand Strategy of Philip II
-- Teofilo F. Ruiz'
Review
'“Stuart Schwartz widens the road to religious tolerance with fascinating new examples from Portugal, Spain and their American colonies. Tradesmen, farmers, and slaves argue a down-to-earth relativism as independently as any radical scholar. An important book for understanding what leads people to accept difference and a source of hope for our own time.”Natalie Zemon Davis, author of
Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds -- Geoffrey Parker'
Review
'\"Schwartz argues eloquently and convincingly. . . . A flowing narrative that is at once gripping and enlightening. . . . All Can Be Saved should prove to be a very important contribution to our understanding of religious belief, past and present.\"Carlos Eire, Books & Culture -- Natalie Zemon Davis'
Review
'“. . . Schwartz is far too good a historian to draw hard-and-fast conclusions . . . hitherto forgotten individuals of all categories (to) express their widely ranging views on the human condition afresh. As readable as it is scholarly, his achievement is highly to be recommended.” - Count Tolstoy,
The Monarchy -- Carlos Eire - Books and Culture'
Review
'\'“The range of its ambition, the extent of its documentation, and the breadth of its geographical scope make his new book a remarkable achievement.”J.H. Elliott, The New York Review of Books -- Count Tolstoy - The Monarchy\''
Review
'Winner of the Bolton-Johnson Prize awarded by the Conference on Latin American History -- J.H. Elliott - New York Review of Books'
Review
'\'\\\"This richly textured study is full of fascinating material and rewards the reader with accounts and discussion of some inspiring human stories.\\\"--
Catholic Historical Review -- Bolton-Johnson Prize - Conference on Latin American History\''
Review
"Winrothand#8217;s latest publication is extremely organized and well-written. It is highly recommended for students of the Middle Ages, those interested in Viking culture or the power of conversion. This work would also be an excellent secondary source on an undergraduate syllabus relating to Church history. It is well-researched and sourced, containing over twenty pages of bibliographic material for further study."and#8212;Robert P. Russo, Catholic Books Review
Review
"Winroth (Yale), an authority on medieval canon law, has penned a literate, intelligent synthesis of how economic change in Scandinavia during the Viking Age (780-1100) led to the reception of Christianity. . . . Scholars and students alike will read this work with profit. Excellent bibliography."—K.W. Harl, Choice Catholic Books Review
Review
and#8220;Winrothand#8217;s is a fresh take on the Vikings, showing people with agency and voices. Sometimes violent, they preferred negotiation. Gift-getting and gift-giving drove their politics. When, in the centuries around 1000, Scandinavians opted into Europe, Christianity was a gift they chose.and#8221;and#8212;Jinty Nelson, Professor Emerita, Kingand#8217;s College Londonand#160;
Review
"This is a very significant contribution that stands out among the crowded field of Viking history. Admirably balancing the expected features of a survey work with a new orientation, Winroth does a superb job of uniting the history of the Norse in the East (Russia and the Byzantine and Arab world) with the history of the Scandinavian homeland and its expansion to the West."and#8212;Anthony Perron, Loyola Marymount University
Review
and#8220;Historical writing does not get any better than this vivid, masterly and profoundly original account of a transformation not only fascinating in itself but of real and enduring importance in the shaping ofand#160;Europe.and#8221;and#8212;R.I. Moore, University of Newcastle upon Tyneand#160;
Review
and#8220;Winroth takes us directly into the imaginative world of pre-Christian Scandinavia through its vivid poetry; and into the ambitions and sophistication of its leaders, through the most up-to-date archaeology. He rewrites the history of the coming of Christianity to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. In doing this, he has added a new and challenging chapter to the well-known story of the birth of Christian Europe.and#8221;
and#8212;Peter Brown, Princeton UniversityReview
andldquo;Anders Winrothandrsquo;sand#160;The Conversion of Scandinaviaand#160;provides much material to ponder as well as a great deal of information. His meticulous gathering of materials opens new avenues for consideration, while his thoughtful survey of the material will provide guidance for anyone interested in the topic and period.andrdquo;andmdash;Benjamin Hudson,and#160;The Journal of Medieval Religious Culturesand#160;
Review
Winner of the 2013 Gustav Ranis International Book Prize awarded by the MacMillan Center at Yale University.
Synopsis
The demand for spices in medieval Europe was extravagant and was reflected in the pursuit of fashion, the formation of taste, and the growth of luxury trade. It inspired geographical and commercial exploration ,as traders pursued such common spices as pepper and cinnamon and rarer aromatic products, including ambergris and musk. Ultimately, the spice quest led to imperial missions that were to change world history.
This engaging book explores the demand for spices: why were they so popular, and why so expensive? Paul Freedman surveys the history, geography, economics, and culinary tastes of the Middle Ages to uncover the surprisingly varied ways that spices were put to use--in elaborate medieval cuisine, in the treatment of disease, for the promotion of well-being, and to perfume important ceremonies of the Church. Spices became symbols of beauty, affluence, taste, and grace, Freedman shows, and their expense and fragrance drove the engines of commerce and conquest at the dawn of the modern era.
Synopsis
It would seem unlikely that one could discover tolerant religious attitudes in Spain, Portugal, and the New World colonies during the era of the Inquisition, when enforcement of Catholic orthodoxy was widespread and brutal. Yet this groundbreaking book does exactly that. Drawing on an enormous body of historical evidenceincluding records of the Inquisition itselfthe historian Stuart Schwartz investigates the idea of religious tolerance and its evolution in the Hispanic world from 1500 to 1820. Focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of common people rather than those of intellectual elites, the author finds that no small segment of the population believed in freedom of conscience and rejected the exclusive validity of the Church.
The book explores various sources of tolerant attitudes, the challenges that the New World presented to religious orthodoxy, the complex relations between popular” and learned” culture, and many related topics. The volume concludes with a discussion of the relativist ideas that were taking hold elsewhere in Europe during this era.
Synopsis
In this book a MacArthur Award-winning scholar argues for a radically new interpretation of the conversion of Scandinavia from paganism to Christianity in the early Middle Ages. Overturning the received narrative of Europe's military and religious conquest and colonization of the region, Anders Winroth contends that rather than acting as passive recipients, Scandinavians converted to Christianity because it was in individual chieftains' political, economic, and cultural interests to do so.
Through a painstaking analysis and historical reconstruction of both archeological and literary sources, and drawing on scholarly work that has been unavailable in English, Winroth opens up new avenues for studying European ascendency and the expansion of Christianity in the medieval period.
About the Author
Paul Freedman is Chester D. Tripp Professor of History, Yale University. His previous books include Images of the Medieval Peasant, The Origins of Peasant Servitude in Medieval Catalonia, and Food: The History of Taste.