A blast from a dynamic past

I have this book! Back in 1984, most Swedes (and, I presume, most people in general) regarded the Middle Ages as a dark, stagnant and slightly sinister period in European history. Think Bergman's “The Seventh Seal” and you get the picture. That's how most people in my social circles regarded the Middle Ages, too. I was almost shocked when the Christian Democrats (a small Swedish political party) claimed the opposite, saying that medieval times were more “spiritual”! Considering that the Swedish Christian Democrats are evangelical, not Catholic, this *is* strange, but at the time, I didn't grasp the denominational aspect…

In a climate like this, Michael Nordberg's “Den dynamiska medeltiden” created something of a sensation. The title means “The dynamic Middle Ages”, which sounds like a bizarre contradiction in terms! The book is still considered something of a classic. It's an attempt to rehabilitate the High and Late Middle Ages to a reasonably educated general audience. Of course, it could be argued (and another historian, Dick Harrison, has argued) that Nordberg is cheating. After all, the *real* dark ages were the Early Middle Ages, a period Nordberg studiously avoids…

That being said, “Den dynamiska medeltiden” was a good counterpoint to those who saw the Middle Ages as exclusively about witch-burnings, inquisitions and crusades. I admit that I was skeptical to this work for quite some time! The medieval stereotype is strong. Nordberg does occasionally go too far in his rehabilitation attempts. He seems to dislike the Renaissance, and paints a picture of the Late Middle Ages as more “modern” by contrasting the Nominalists (such as William of Ockham) with the supposedly superstitious Renaissance philosophers (such as Marsilio Ficino). By concentrating on the “pluralist” and “democratic” aspects of medieval society, including Cathars and emancipated urbane women, he paints a picture of it which is perhaps too modern and tolerant. As we all know, there were strong forces during the Middle Ages who had very different ideas about such things. One could perhaps also criticize the book “from the other end”, so to speak. Are the Middle Ages good only because they vaguely resemble our time? Are we the measure of all things?

On one point, Nordberg has probably been superseded by more recent research. He rejects the high death tolls traditionally attributed to the Black Death (the bubonic plague epidemic around 1350). As far as I understand, however, historians have now reverted to the old view that the Black Death really was disastrous, killing off between one third and one half of Europe's population.

With these caveats, I will nevertheless give “Den dynamiska medeltiden” five stars. It really does feel as a, pun somewhat intended, blast from the past…