The Two Cities: Medieval Europe, 1050-1320.

Reese, Alan W.

Malcolm Barber. New York, Routledge, 1992. 581 pp.

The book's title, The Two Cities, is a reference to Otto of Freising's universal history by that name completed in 1147. Otto sought to record, as he put it, "the conflicts and miseries of the one city, Babylon" but also sought "not to be silent concerning our hopes regarding that other city [the City of God as described by Augustine and Orosius]" (p. 2). The link with Otto of Freising (d. 1158), established by the title, continues with illustrative extracts from Otto's writings throughout the book. Barber finds in the contrasting cities a model by which to interpret the ever increasing tension in the High Middle Ages. "Explicitly or implicitly," he notes, "the activities and thoughts of human beings in the centuries between c. 1050 - c. 1320 were moulded by two powerful forces: on the one hand, the pressures and temptations of the material world, made all the more manifest by economic development, and on the other, the deeply held belief in the need to aspire towards a higher, spiritual life, itself displayed with increasing clarity by contemporary social changes" (p. 2).

Twenty-five years of research and teaching the Middle Ages is put to the service of students of the High Middle Ages by Malcolm Barber in this book. Written with the serious student of the High Middle Ages in mind, it is abundantly illustrated with maps covering the full extent of the Christendom in this period including the crusader states of the eastern Mediterranean and Greece. Fourteen Black and White plates illustrate the text's discussion of the place of art in the High Middle Ages. Lists of kings, popes, and even the rulers of smaller principalities are provided for all parts of Europe. A table explaining the medieval year (with find and moveable feasts) is provided and related to the linkage of liturgical observance and the rhythms of agriculture. Similarly the medieval day is illustrated with a table of the monastic "hours" in summer and winter. Appended to the book are a Chronology, a bibliography, references and indexes organized by person (with death date), place and subject.

Barber's approach to writing a general history is refreshing in its ample use of appropriate and interesting documentary examples from the primary sources. The book is organized divided in four parts. The first part, "The Social and Economic Structure," consists of three succinct and well-crafted chapters on the physical environment, social structure, and economic development.

The second part, "The Church," covers the papacy, the crusades, monasticism and friars, and popular religion and heresy. The third part, "Political Change," covers all the political units of the period including the understudied states of eastern and northern Europe and the Crusader states in the Levant and, after 1204, the former Byzantine territories in Greece and the Aegean islands. Barber is at his best in his analysis of political change, discussing in detail conflicting claims of The Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy and the Communes. However his thematic approach leads to a certain amount of repetition. Discussion of the reign of Emperor Frederick II, for example, is found in the chapter on the empire but also in the chapters on the Papacy and the Kingdom of Sicily. In the fourth part, "Perceptions of the World," Barber discusses the medieval world view, intellectual life, art and society, and concludes with a discussion of western Christendom and the wider world. In his discussion of art and society he makes reference to the debate concerning the relationship between scholasticism and Gothic architecture. Here he briefly contrasts Erwin Panofsky's view with that of Robert Banner and Roberto Salvini (p. 475). This approach is most stimulating and one only wishes that Barber used it more extensively.

The author departs from the usual practice of numbered notes and instead provides the author (or editor's) last name and year of publication in brackets in the body of the text immediately following each reference. In the case of primary sources the original author and title introduces each quotation. The annotated bibliography nicely covers the lack of explanatory notes. Here Barber discusses the scholarly literature for each of the nineteen chapters and so provides an excellent introduction to the best of scholarship in the field. The book will be enjoyed by upper-year undergraduates and professors not only for its comprehensive treatment of the High Middle Ages but also for its lively, readable style.