Peter Brown - The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000

Series Editor: Jacques Le Goff

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The Enlightenment
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Jacques Le Goff
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European Revolutions 14921992
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* Title out of print

This tenth anniversary revised edition first published 2013
2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Edition history: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (1e, 1996; paperback, 1997; and 2e, 2003)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Peter, 1935
The rise of Western Christendom : triumph and diversity, A.D. 2001000 /
Peter Brown. 10th anniversary rev. ed.
p. cm. (The making of Europe)
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-30126-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Church historyPrimitive and early church,
ca. 30600. 2. Church historyMiddle Ages, 6001500. 3. Civilization, Medieval. I. Title.
BR162.3.B76 2013
274dc23

2012031782

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Mosaic of Moses loosening his sandal at Gods command, Mount Sinai. 6th century. San Vitale Basilica, Ravenna San Vitale. Photo Erich Lessing / akg-images
Cover design by Nicki Averill

For Betsy

This book is a reprint of a book with a history. It is a history of curiosity and of growing excitement. I first wrote it in the form of a relatively short essay (virtually without footnotes) which appeared in 1996 as part of the series Faire lEurope: The Making of Europe, directed by Jacques le Goff.

Over the next few years, however, I realized that I could hear behind me the roar of a dam burst. A remarkable surge of publications, of new discoveries and of new and daring perspectives was under way. It ensured that the centuries associated with the end of the Roman empire and the first centuries of the western Middle Ages (between 200 and 1000 A.D.) previously dismissed as the Dark Ages looked very different from how they had done before. New views had emerged, lively controversies had arisen concerning the rise of Christianity, the fall of the Roman empire, the origin and expansion of Islam, the conversion to Christianity of northern Europe and the establishment of the empire of Charlemagne. I needed to dive back into the flood and bring these changes in modern scholarship to the attention of readers in an expanded account. This was fully equipped with footnotes and bibliography, so that they also could dive in and join in the fun.