The Bottom Line
Pros
- Draws together a vast amount of material in a small book.
- Witty writing.
- Arrangement by century and geographically makes it pretty easy to follow.
Cons
- Most of the book is beyond the scope of this site.
- For those not in the know, it is hard to keep track of similarly-named people.
Description
- The emperors had needed so much money they had tied the people to the land as serfs.
- After the Fall Roman power was claimed by the papacy.
- Converts, the Visigoths, as zealous Catholics, persecuted the Jews, so when the Moslems attacked Spain, the Jews helped.
- The Pope said the Frankish Pepin, Charlemagne's father, was king by divine right.
- Rome was still so figuratively important that Charlemagne was made Emperor of Rome.
- Until the 9th Century the Byzantine Empire and West were allies.
- The Pope excommunicated the Patriarch in 863; in 867, it was reciprocated.
- Pithy Latin Quotations (with English translations) at the start of each chapter.
- Created especially for Latin teachers using Boethius, Alcuin, Isodore, Einhard, and the Venerable Bede.
Guide Review - Rose Williams' The Lighter Side of the Dark Ages
These small, bandy-legged barbarians and their ponies, which were only slightly shaggier than their masters, did not look like much, but both had incredible strength and ferocity.Williams explains why we should all be interested in this period: the Western Europeans of the period "had an impact which every citizen of the world still feels today." Simply, they shaped the world.
There are many threads that hold the Dark Ages together. Visigoths, Vandals, Huns etc, made "life merry for a series of emperors who varied from foolishly heroic to just plain foolish." Implicitly explaining one of the problems in identification that students of the period face, Williams says the Scots and Franks had trouble coming up with original royal names. Signaling a man's unfitness for the throne, his locks were shorn. Overlords dominated minions who knew better than to disobey. Religious leaders "often saved time by spreading the holy word at the point of a sword."
Altogether, The Lighter Side of the Dark Ages is a masterful summary. Williams has an impressive grasp of all the threads and power maneuverings. Despite the title, it is a legitimate history.
