THE INIMITABLE THOMAS CAHILL TURNS HIS EYE ON THE DAWN OFTHE MODERN WESTERN WORLD IN THIS INTELLIGENT, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN EXPLORATION OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE, THE FIFTH BOOK IN HIS ACCLAIMED HINGES OF HISTORY SERIES.

List of Illustrations

A CHAUCERIAN INVITATION

PRELUDE: ALEXANDRIA,

CITY OF REASON

The Great Confluence

INTRODUCTION: ROME,

CROSSROADS OF THE WORLD

How the Romans

Became the Italians

ONE: BINGEN AND CHARTRES,

GARDENS ENCLOSED

The Cult of the Virgin

and Its Consequences

TWO: AQUITAINE AND ASSISI,

COURTS OF LOVE

The Pursuit of Love and

Its Consequences

INTERMEZZO: ENTRANCES

TO OTHER WORLDS

The Mediterranean, the Orient,

and the Atlantic

THREE: PARIS, UNIVERSITY OF

HEAVENLY THINGS

The Exaltation of Reason

and Its Consequences

FOUR: OXFORD, UNIVERSITY OF

EARTHLY THINGS

The Alchemist's Quest and

Its Consequences

FIVE: PADUA, CHAPEL OF FLESH

The Artist's Experiment and

Its Consequences

SIX: FLORENCE, DOME OF LIGHT

The Poet's Dream and

Its Consequences

EVEN: RAVENNA, CITY OF DEATH

The Politician's Emptiness and

Its Consequences

POSTLUDE:

LOVE IN THE RUINS

A Dantesque Reflection

Notes and Sources

Acknowledgments

Permissions Acknowledgments

Photography Credits

Index