The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century

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The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder Charlemagne s empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages Yet according to historian 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 Birth of the West tells the story of a transformation from chaos to order, exploring the alien landscape of Europe in transition It is a fascinatingnarrative that thoroughly renovates older conceptions of feudalism and what medieval life was actually like The result is a wholly new vision of how civilization sprang from the unlikeliest of origins, and proof that our tenth century ancestors are not as remote as we might think. New Read The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century [ By ] Paul Collins [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr This turned out to be a very frustrating read Collins uses a mixture of primary and secondary sources with a dual German and Italian focus to discuss how the chaos of the tenth century set the stage for later trends towards nationalism and consolidation of papal power, giving rise to western civilization as we know it And he tries to do this by highlighting individuals who attempted to create order either benevolent or tyrannical and those who tried to thwart them, tipping the balance first This turned out to be a very frustrating read Collins uses a mixture of primary and secondary sources with a dual German and Italian focus to discuss how the chaos of the tenth century set the stage for later trends towards nationalism and consolidation of papal power, giving rise to western civilization as we know it And he tries to do this by highlighting individuals who attempted to create order either benevolent or tyrannical and those who tr...The tenth century is not the century one associates with the birth of the west and after reading this book, one still will not associate it with the birth of the west Somewhat jokingly, Collins asserts he should ve named his book How the Germans Saved Civilization, and here he isaccurate The Birth of the West is essentially the story of how the Saxon kingdom brought law and order to the west, reformed the papacy, and centralized authority If this was the sole focus of the book, it The tenth century is not the century one associates with the birth of the west and after reading this book, one still will not associate it with the birth of the west Somewhat jokingly, Collins asserts he should ve named his book How the Germans Saved Civilization, and here he isaccurate The Birth of the West is essentially the story of how the Saxon kingdom brought law and order to the west, reformed the papacy, and centralized authority If this was the sole focus of the book, it would be a success but its not Theheady claim the birth of the west is not successfully made The Saxon law and order only succeeded in stopping the slide into greater localism and reversed the corruption of the church but it did not lay the foundation of the modern western state nor its culture and ideology Instead, the Saxon kingdoms would fall apart into hundreds...Vikings were raiding from the north and west, Magyars from the east, Saracens from the south The papacy was at its lowest ebb, with corrupt and incompetent popes chosen by Rome s local mafia families The great empire of Charlemagne had dissolved into a mosaic of feuding kinglets Europe was a bloody, chaotic place, and it is amazing that anything resembling civilization managed to survive, and evenamazing that from this unpromising start the modern nations of Europe were able to pull Vikings were raiding from the north and west, Magyars from the east, Saracens from the south The papacy was at its lowest ebb, with corrupt and incompetent popes chosen by Rome s local mafia families The great empire of Charlemagne had dissolved into a mosaic of feuding kinglets Europe was a bloody, chaotic place, and it is amazing that anything resembling civilization managed to survive, and evenamazing that from this unpromising start the modern nations of Europe were able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and begin to assert authority and order The end of the Dark Ages were very dark indeed.The first half of the book has a chapter for each of the major regions what would become Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and the British Isles Each is a somewhat confusing account of cousins and half brothers and bastard sons plotting against each other, perfectly willin...The author was obviously enthusiastic and knowledgeable about his work but unfortunately I did not find it contagious A highschool student s nightmare, filled with names and dates The story bounced around like a ping pong ball in a tornado and was hard to follow Much detail but not much analysis and not enough maps Never enough maps Go to Google to follow the story as it has a great many maps of the era.The book covers the breakup of Charlemaine s Empire in the mid 800 s, the development of The author was obviously enthusiastic and knowledgeable about his work but unfortunately I did not find it contagious A highschool student s nightmare, filled with names and dates The story bounced around like a ping pong ball in a tornado and was hard to follow Much detail but not much analysis and not enough maps Never enough maps Go to Google to follow the story as it has a great many maps of the era.The book covers the breakup of Charlemaine s Empire in the mid 800 s, the development of France under Viking invasions and settlement into a great number of smallor less independent regions and the solidification of a Germanic Holy Roman Empire du...Some interesting stories about the papal and political rivalries in Europe but the writing leaves a great deal to be desired Basically a collection of facts, names, and dates that never connect to an overarching theme This is th...Some interesting parts, but also some obvious and weird biases, and I have never seen so many exclamation points in a non fiction book before.There were some truly fascinating facts and stories throughout this otherwise convoluted telling of the birth of the west My feelings about this book, that clearly has a lot of passion behind it, is that it jumped a...Anyone looking at Europe of the tenth century would be excused for believing that the Continent had sunk irretrievably into chaos and anarchy Charlemagne s effort at unification had failed spectacularly in the hands of his incompetent descendants The Vikings were plundering Europe, Britain and Ireland and the local chiefs they hardly deserved the title of Kings were unable to resist them The papacy was ridden with corruption and intrigue Yet out of this chaos the Renaissance emerged four Anyone looking at Europe of the tenth century would be excused for believing that the Continent had sunk irretrievably into chaos and anarchy Charlemagne s effort at unification had failed spectacularly in the hands of his incompetent descendants The Vikings were plundering Europe, Britain and Ireland and the local chiefs they hardly deserved the title of Kings were unable to resist them The papacy was ridden with corruption and intrigue Yet out of this chaos the Renaissance emerged four hundred years later.Paul Collins believes, and he does a fairly good job of convincing the reader, that the process which culminated in the Renaissance and Enlightenment had its seeds in the tenth century Europe He identifies two forces as being responsible for this revival one the Holy Roman Empire that acquired a new vigor under the three Ottos, and the Church with people like Gerbert d Aurillac who became Pope Sylvester II at the turn of the millen...Informative history of an important transitional period of Europe The various threads are hard to follow because the author begins at the end and then weaves his way back and forth through time and space, such that the reader repeatedly encounters the same people but without an easy way to integrate previously gleaned information with the information subsequently provided I would have preferred astructured approach one less dictated by the opportunity to tell a good story organized Informative history of an important transitional period of Europe The various threads are hard to follow because the author begins at the end and then weaves hi...Popular survey of the western kingdoms in the very long shadow of Charlemagne lively attempt to portray what can be known of the personalities and actions of the 900s ruling class, with some forays into ordinary people when known several good anecdotes from women living in the Islamic kingdoms of Spain , and with special attention on attempting to unravel the propaganda from the reality of powerful women like Theophano, E...

The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century
  • English
  • 02 November 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 484 pages
  • 161039013X
  • Paul Collins
  • The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century