The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century

by Paul Collins

Overview

The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. Charlemagne's empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to historian Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our culture's birth, of the emergence of our civilization into the light of day.

The Birth of the West tells the story of a transformation from chaos to order, exploring the alien landscape of Europe in transition. It is a fascinating narrative that thoroughly renovates older conceptions of feudalism and what medieval life was actually like. The result is a wholly new vision of how civilization sprang from the unlikeliest of origins, and proof that our tenth-century ancestors are not as remote as we might think.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610390149
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	02/12/2013
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	661,052
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Paul Collins is a historian and broadcaster with degrees from Harvard and the Australian National University. He has worked as a religious commentator for Australian Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, PBS, and more; as a teacher of theology and history; and as a Catholic priest. In March 2001, he resigned from active ministry due to a doctrinal dispute with the Vatican over his book, Papal Power. He is also the author of The Birth of the West, published by PublicAffairs in 2013.

Table of Contents

Prologue: "From the Fury of the Northmen, Lord, Deliver Us" 1

Part 1 The City and the World

1 The Physical Landscape of the Tenth Century 11

2 Roman "Harlots": From the Cadaver Synod to the Fall of Marozia 33

3 The Nadir of the Papacy 69

Part 2 The World in Chaos

4 Enemies of Christians 93

5 The Dissention of Kings 111

6 Salvation from "That Very Savage People" 135

7 Feudal France 157

8 Muslims and Christians in Spain 181

9 Anglo-Saxon England 203

10 The Celtic Lands: Ireland, Scotland, and Wales 227

Part 3 The Second Spring

11 Liutprand of Cremona: Cynic, Diplomat, and Stylist 247

12 "That Greek Woman": Theophano, Otto II, and Her Mother-in-Law 269

Part 4 Living in the Tenth Century

13 Monks and Nuns 293

14 Ordinary Life in the Tenth Century 317

15 Faith and Church in the Tenth Century 337

Part 5 A Millennial Vision

16 Gerbert, the Magician of the Millennium 363

17 Otto III: A "New Rome"? 385

18 The Millennium 415

Acknowledgments 429

The Descendants of Charlemagne 431

The Saxon Kings and Selected Relatives 432

Source Abbreviations 433

Notes 435

Bibliography: Primary Sources 455

Bibliography: Secondary Sources 459

Index 467

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Thomas Keneally“The Birth of the West is a re-making of what we think we know about the end of the “Dark Ages”. It is also the gate to the utterly unexpected cosmos of European forebears. In some ways, from waterlogged England by way of the folk beliefs of French peasants, to the ambitious consolidation of Germany, corruption and reform in the Papacy, the machinations of Constantinople and the continuing presence of Moorish culture in  Western Europe, the characters who people ‘The Birth of the West’ are as familiar as relatives—as indeed they are—groping their way to a cohesive Western culture as yet dominant in the world. The ‘Birth of the West’ is thus the tale of our birth, and Collins tells it with a narrative grace and elegance which will make readers cherish it.”

Kirkus Reviews, starred review“A lively, full-to-bursting history of the turbulent 10th century in Europe…Collins presents chaotic upheaval across Europe in an organized and riveting fashion.”
Jay Rubenstein, Professor of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and author of Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse“In The Birth of the West, Paul Collins makes accessible and exciting the world of tenth-century Europe. With a sense for both the grand narrative and for the quirks of particular personalities, Collins makes this central medieval century seem not so dark. Rather, lit by the fiery eyes of three German kings named Otto, who stand at the heart of Collins' story, it is an era of significant cultural achievement and political advance—though no less bloody for it.”

Publishers Weekly
“Western Europe claws its way out of the Dark Ages—just barely—in this hair-raising history.… Writing with a supple prose and an eye for colorful detail and vivid characters, Collins shapes some of history’s most appalling behavior—first prize might go to Pope Steven VI, who exhumed his predecessor’s rotting corpse and placed it on trial for heresy—into a lively narrative with a comprehensible story line.  Behind the blood-lettings and betrayals of medieval politics, he sketches an illuminating interpretation of a society and worldview shaped by insecurity, superstition, and personal loyalties. The result is a fascinating account of how a desperate struggle for survival bequeathed a civilization.”

Booklist
“Collins provides a broad panorama of the age, presenting characters great and small, including kings, magnates, popes, and peasants. This is a well-done study suitable for both scholars and general readers.”

Editorial Reviews

Western Europe claws its way out of the Dark Ages—just barely—in this hair-raising history. Collins, formerly a Catholic priest, surveys the century or so after Charlemagne’s empire collapsed into civil war and anarchy, a time when government was a protection racket run by petty warlords, Viking and Muslim raiders pillaged and slaughtered, and popes comported themselves like Roman gang leaders. Amid a panorama of local vendettas and parochial power plays, Collins discerns movements toward a renewed order, initiated by Church reformers and farsighted statesmen, particularly the Saxon kings and queens who knitted Germany into a functioning state and resurrected the Holy Roman Empire. Writing with a supple prose and an eye for colorful detail and vivid characters, Collins shapes some of history’s most appalling behavior—first prize might go to Pope Steven VI, who exhumed his predecessor’s rotting corpse and placed it on trial for heresy—into a lively narrative with a comprehensible story line. Behind the blood-lettings and betrayals of medieval politics, he sketches an illuminating interpretation of a society and worldview shaped by insecurity, superstition, and personal loyalties. The result is a fascinating account of how a desperate struggle for survival bequeathed a civilization. 8 maps. Agent: Mary Cunnane, the Mary Cunnane Agency. (Feb. 12)

Publishers Weekly

“Very readable… The 900s are a fascinating time in history, and many lessons might be derived from the era's amazing and usually violent changes in reigns and rulers…Collins follows the lead of other recent historians in seeing this period not just as brutish and stagnant, but also rich in its cultural and spiritual life, and his best chapters focus on everyday people and experiences.”
Shelf Awareness”An engaging account of an often overlooked era.”

National Catholic Reporter“Australian Collins, historian and former priest, has a masterly touch throughout, for he writes the book on the several levels. He describes Europe, physically. He tells us what we are looking at, the stage set of history, the extensive woodlands, the major massifs and plateaus. All the while he is populating this landscape. This is truly history from the bottom up, layering the terrain…Collins' history is telling that though the ages were dark, not all the lights had been turned off. What we are receiving from Collins' sure hand is what happened after the fall of Rome…This is an intriguing 395-page read that gradually comes together at the end as Collins pulls on all the threads to tie into a fine knot.”

Shepherd Express

Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A lively, full-to-bursting history of the turbulent 10th century in Europe…Collins presents chaotic upheaval across Europe in an organized and riveting fashion.”

Jay Rubenstein, Professor of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and author of Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse
“In The Birth of the West, Paul Collins makes accessible and exciting the world of tenth-century Europe. With a sense for both the grand narrative and for the quirks of particular personalities, Collins makes this central medieval century seem not so dark. Rather, lit by the fiery eyes of three German kings named Otto, who stand at the heart of Collins' story, it is an era of significant cultural achievement and political advance—though no less bloody for it.”

Publishers Weekly
“Western Europe claws its way out of the Dark Ages—just barely—in this hair-raising history.… Writing with a supple prose and an eye for colorful detail and vivid characters, Collins shapes some of history's most appalling behavior—first prize might go to Pope Steven VI, who exhumed his predecessor's rotting corpse and placed it on trial for heresy—into a lively narrative with a comprehensible story line.  Behind the blood-lettings and betrayals of medieval politics, he sketches an illuminating interpretation of a society and worldview shaped by insecurity, superstition, and personal loyalties. The result is a fascinating account of how a desperate struggle for survival bequeathed a civilization.”

Booklist
“Collins provides a broad panorama of the age, presenting characters great and small, including kings, magnates, popes, and peasants. This is a well-done study suitable for both scholars and general readers.”

Macleans“He makes a lively… case that the foundations of 11th-century expansion—by the end of which, Europe was powerful enough that, after fighting off or assimilating invaders on all fronts, it was able to start invading its neighbours in the First Crusade—were laid in the 10th century.”

Dallas Morning News

Stephen O'Shea, Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada)
“The Birth of the West offers a refreshing breather from the ambient buzzkill of our era.… [Collins] is not your usual Western-civ cheerleader, jumping up and down about the glory that was Greece … his is a wider tour d'horizon, encompassing also Mulsim Spain, Ireland, Briatin, Poland, and Hungary.… Stimulating, encyclopedic, and often downright funny, this is a book worth remembering.”

Thomas Keneally
“The Birth of the West is a re-making of what we think we know about the end of the “Dark Ages”. It is also the gate to the utterly unexpected cosmos of European forebears. In some ways, from waterlogged England by way of the folk beliefs of French peasants, to the ambitious consolidation of Germany, corruption and reform in the Papacy, the machinations of Constantinople and the continuing presence of Moorish culture in  Western Europe, the characters who people ‘The Birth of the West' are as familiar as relatives—as indeed they are—groping their way to a cohesive Western culture as yet dominant in the world. The ‘Birth of the West' is thus the tale of our birth, and Collins tells it with a narrative grace and elegance which will make readers cherish it.

From the Publisher

A well-done study suitable for both scholars and general readers.”

Booklist

A lively, full-to-bursting history of the turbulent 10th century in Europe, when inner dissention and external marauding began to give way to cohesion and centrality. Australian nonpracticing Catholic priest and historian Collins manages to enthrall readers in the vicissitudes of an early medieval era marked by random violence and unpronounceable Nordic names via his thorough knowledge of the epoch and ability to spin an engaging tale. While giving the brilliant learning of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) its due, he agrees with Thomas Cahill that the Irish and specifically monks indeed "saved civilization" by their stewardship and dissemination of Latin and Greek learning. Collins presents chaotic upheaval across Europe in an organized and riveting fashion. He provides a rich depiction of the physical landscape, which was experiencing a medieval warm period, allowing the Vikings to settle Greenland in the 980s after the North Atlantic sea ice had retreated. He recaps the important democratic shifts and religious conversions thanks to the inroads of Charlemagne in northern Europe and the Muslims in the south; notes the destabilizing terror struck constantly by the marauding Vikings, Saracens and Magyars; delineates the messy and increasingly dangerous papacy; and one by one takes up the dramas of important galvanizing leaders who emerged to impose some sense of order and centrality of government, even if briefly--e.g., the Saxon king Otto I, King Alfred in England and Brian Boru in Ireland. Along with stories about the likes of Liutprand of Cremona, Otto's diplomat, the remarkable regent queen Theophano and polymath Gerbert of Aurillac (aka Pope Sylvester II), Collins also explores the lives of ordinary people in a convulsive time. Who knew the 10th century could be so compelling?

Kirkus Reviews