A Short History of the Middle Ages by Barbara H. Rosenwein (review)

REVIEWS157 reads 'rode.' Occasionally the notes might have given more ofan explication ofthe text, e.g. for the following lines: 'When they saw the lion / they readily recognized Keie' (5210-11). Is the lion a symbol for Keie, or does it appear on his shield? More examples might be added, but they are insignificant in relation to the merit ofthe work as a whole. In the 'Foreword' to the first edition of Walewein, Geert H. M. Claassens had expressed his regret that 'The literary map ofmedieval Europe...contains a blind spot [as] many non Dutch-speaking scholars seem hardly aware ofthe existence of the corpus ofMiddle Dutch literature' (p. xi). But as both Johnson and Claassens (and others for that matter) have realized, the way to improvement is to start with oneself. It may take a while, but if in the future Middle Dutch romances are an obvious object of scholars' attention both within and outside the Low Countries, we shall all be indebted to the two of them. ERIK KOOPER Utrecht University barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History ofthe Middle Ages. Peterborough, ON, Canada: Broadview Press, 2002. Pp. 219. isbn: 1-55111-290-6. $34.95 (U.S.); $42.95 (Canada); £19.95. Writing a textbook is a demanding and somewhat thankless task. It is true that textbooks can provide their authors with significant royalties—a novelty for most academic authors—but, in the end, the burdens attendant on producing a good textbook may well outweigh the benefits. The fruits ofexhaustive research must be distilled, often in defiance of the disciplinary subtleties instilled by the author's scholarly training, into a series ofsweeping generalizations, for consumption by an audience with little knowledge of (and, too often, interest in) the subject at hand. Nor does the endeavor tend to attract much notice from one's peers. Other scholars might regard a textbook as a useful teaching tool; but beyond that, textbooks are, by their very nature, immune to lavish praise or breathlessly enthusiastic claims of groundbreaking brilliance or originality. Nevertheless, the academic publishing industry has witnessed a dramatic proliferation oftextbooks in recent years. Publishers assert that the textbook boom is intended to provide instructors and students with a greater range ofchoices. But since meaningful choices demand at the very least a modicum of variation, and since far too many new textbooks subscribe to an unambitious, dumbcd-down sameness that renders them largely indistinguishable, the claim may be viewed with skepticism. The fact that there are now more textbooks available on the market than ever before should not, in and ofitself, lead us to conclude that the newfound fecundity ofthe textbook industry is a particularly good thing for either teachers or students. Quantity and quality, after all, are two quite different things. In this light, describing Barbara Rosenwein's A Short History oftheMiddleAges as a useful textbook is much more than a case ofdamning with faint praise. Rosenwein has established herselfas a respected scholar ofmedieval society and religion; ifthis 158ARTHURIANA present work is any indication, she is also an effective teacher of undergraduates. Recognizing that most college and university students today have little or no background in the history ofthe Middle Ages, Rosenwein sets out to provide the uninitiated with what she modestly calls 'an easy pass through a dense thicket' (p. 11). The result is a lucid, well-organized, readable, and surprisingly thorough survey ofthe evolution of medieval civilization. Rosenwein eschews a more traditional, tripartite division ofthe Middle Ages for asimpler, two-part division. This scheme is certainlydefensible on scholarlyground; Rosenwein's desire to downplay an arbitrarily sharp distinction between the 'High' and Late Middle Ages, and to view them instead as components of a prolonged period of European growth and development after about 1050, suggests a welcome change in traditional approaches to medieval periodization. More to the point, the division makes sense pedagogically: Rosenwein seems attentive to the fact that the academic schedules of most North American colleges and universities are better suited to two-part rather than three-part course divisions. Part One examines the emergence of the Meditetranean world's three 'post-Roman' civilizations between approximately 600 and 1050; Part Two concentrates on the rise to prominence...

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