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Europe during the later Middle Ages was
a scene of unparalleled chaos. At no other time in history
did so much misery -- in the form of famine, war, plague,
and death -- descend upon the earth. At times it must have
seemed like the end of the world was truly at hand. And
yet, as John Aberth reveals in this lively work, a firm
belief in the ways of providence and the first stirrings
of greater political freedom allowed communities to endure.
Far from conventional notions of the "waning"
of the Middle Ages, John Aberth reveals here a world with
fears, hopes, and passions that we recognize as our own.
Relying on rich literary and historical
sources John Aberth brings this period vividly to life.
Taking his themes from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,
he describes how the Great Famine and Black Death swept
away nearly half of Europe's population, while the royal
houses of England and France were engaged in a Hundred Year
War that meant perpetual political strife. Above all loomed
the specter of Death, ever present and constantly feared.
Throughout the later Middle Ages, ordinary
people were transformed by these daunting and fearful series
of crises, yet in their prayers, chronicles, poetry, and
especially their commemorative art are foreshadowings of
the age to come. As John Aberth reveals in this informative
and sympathetic work, in their struggles we glimpse the
birth of the modern.
John Aberth is Associate Professor of
History at the University of Nebraska and is the author
of Criminal Churchmen in the Age of Edward III. He
divides his time between Omaha, Nebraska, and Roxbury, Vermont.
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