October 2022
A World Lit Only by Fire, written by William Manchester in 1992 is an exceptional in-depth exploration of the Medieval Ages, specifically focusing on the Renaissance and the actions that led to its end. Manchester starts the book by giving context to the Dark Ages, discussing that it was a bloody, violent, and ignorant time, often in the name of God. Christianity was much more than religion – it was a way of life. This is, in part, due to what Manchester names “the medieval mind”, a mindset that was ignorant and non-skeptical of accepted norms or customs – so much so, in fact, that “In the medieval mind there was also no awareness of time…” (Manchester 52) nor history. Manchester then concludes the first part by explaining that the innovators and thinkers of this era, those such as Vasco de Gama, Johannes Gutenberg, and Ferdinand Magellan would upheave the world that the cartographers had drawn.
The second chapter, entitled Shattering, explores the long process that led to the shattering of the world as it was known at the time. Manchester starts off by discussing Magellan and his voyages; it is explained that by proving that the world was round, “He provided a linchpin for the men of the Renaissance. Philosophers, scholars, and even learned men in the Church had begun to challenge stolid medieval assumptions.” (Manchester 64) At this time, as mentioned before, the world was violent and bloody, and the worst enemy one could have was the Papacy. Manchester describes medieval Pops as “Ruthless in their pursuit of political power and personal gain, they were medieval despots who used their holy office for blackmail and extortion.” (Manchester 68) Though the Vatican was corrupt, only the wealthy and powerful such as the Sforzas, Medicis, and Aragons could make any type of stand.
Manchester then moves into discussing medieval urban life, explaining that social, political, and economic stratification were impeccably large. He explains that “Gluttony wallowed in its nauseous excesses at tables spread in the halls of the mighty. The everyday dinner of a man of rank ran from fifteen to twenty dishes…” (Manchester 85) After more aspects of urban life such as travel and marriage or relationships, the author moves into a discussion of the Borgia Papacy that led to a downward spiral for Catholicism. Firstly, the Borgia Pope Alexander VI threw large, sultry parties that were seemingly a stark representation of the crumbling of established society. The Church protected those that were useful to them, such as artists, even though many were criminals or rough and rowdy folk. One major event that piled on to this issue was Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press throughout 1457. (Manchester 138) This led to the popularization and development of the Humanism movement through Erasmus, who used his humanist ideals to critique the Church. This caught on and became known as “The Great Apostasy” (Manchester 176) and contributed majorly to the Papacy’s downward spiral.
Martin Luther is then brought up and discussed at length. Manchester explains that “In defying the Chirch, Luther had done something else. He had broken the dam of medieval discipline. By his reasoning, every man could be his own priest…” (Manchester 195) Even though he was cast aside and his theses rebuttalled, Luther kept coming back with more “heresies”. After Emperor Charles V was elected as Holy Roman Emperor, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo after a scathing text was published, claiming that “’The Papacy’, he wrote, ‘is the devil’s church.’” After a trial that followed the published text, the Protestant Reformation began to sweep across Europe at an impressive rate. Manchester explains that “In the spirit of the time, they celebrated their spiritual rebirths violently” (Manchester 234) which then led to public execution of Christians, oftentimes via fire. The strength of the Reformation gave way to Protestant states such as Calvinist Geneva, which then created a berth for raiders to begin sacking the Vatican. “Archives and libraries when up in flames, with manuscript pages saved only to be used as bedding for horses. The Vatican was turned into a stable.” (Manchester 259) This led to the Roman Inquisition, backed by English King Henry VIII. Manchester follows this topic by discussing the well-known story of King Henry VIII, in which he was excommunicated by the Pope for his divorces. Concluding the second part of Manchester’s work, it appears that Luther and King Henry VIII were the two most influential figures throughout the Protestant Reformation.
The third, and final part of Manchester’s text focuses mainly on the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan. He explains that “The patterns of Magellan’s age are now clear. Its clarifying event was the shattering of the medieval world – medium aevum, as Renaissance humanists called it. That historic collapse was the legacy of countless events and influences, which combined to create the greatest European upheaval since the Barbarians’ conquest of Rome.” (Manchester 291) It is important to keep in mind that at this time, Europeans largely thought that the world was flat, despite the navigational and marine advancements made by Chaucer and Prince Henry the Navigator. Manchester follows this by discussing the Armada de Molluca, Magellan’s armada that eventually was able to circumnavigate the globe. After some time on the coast of Brazil and enduring attacks from the Spanish, the Portuguese man found a strait “known to history as the Strait of Magellan” (Manchester 331) that allowed them to continue back around to the Spice Islands. Manchester explains the gravity of their achievement by saying, “The little armada’s 12,600-mile crossing of the Pacific, the greatest physical unity on Earth, is one of history’s imperishable tales of the sea…” (Manchester 334) After reaching the Philippines and residing there for some time, Magellan was killed in an attack that caused the rest of his surviving crew to flee and complete the trip. Magellan did not make it, but his voyage certainly lived on.
The text The Great Ages of Discovery, written by Stephen Pyne, provides an in-depth exploration of Europe’s Age of Exploration in a captivating manner. Pyne starts his text by using his first two chapters to give context to the age being discussed. Pyne states that “Among seafaring civilizations, Europe was anomalous in having two internal seas and two styles of seafaring.” (Pyne 21) This is paramount because in Portugal, the two styles met and combined into “several new species, of which the best known is the caravel.” (Pyne 21) The caravel became a non-replaceable tool for the soon-to-be explorers of this age, and thus became the vessel of choice.
Pyne then moves his discussion to the psychology behind why the explorers did what they did. According to Pyne, “They claimed, in the classic formulation of the age, that they did it for God, gold, and glory. They wanted wealth, fame, and to serve the Cross.” (Pyne 29) The text then explores specific explorers’ reasonings such as Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus, yet they remained similar. Another interesting tidbit that Pyne brings up in this chapter is that one aspect of the explorers’ reasoning might be that “if they didn’t, someone else would. Probably someone they didn’t like and didn’t want to succeed.” (Pyne 35)
The text then shifts its focus to “The What and Where of Exploration” (Pyne 39) by partitioning the topic into Portugal, Spain, and the rest of Europe. In Portugal, Pyne explains that “The era began with the rediscovery of the Atlantic isles and coastal trading along the western coast of Africa. Portugal led, often jostling with Spanish interlopers.” (Pyne 40) The Portuguese used a strategy that entailed sailing to a known point, then utilizing native mariners and skippers to guide the Europeans into the waters unknown to them, but known to the natives. “What followed was a process of translation, not easy, not without errors, even fatal mistakes, but a different project than turning a ship to ride the wind and see where it might go.” (Pyne 41) While the Humanists were translating ancient texts, “explorers did [it] for geographic lore.” (Pyne 41) Using this method, the Portuguese “had pioneered a sea route to the Indies, even to the Spice Islands themselves.” (Pyne 42) Spain focused its attention in a different part of the globe, seemingly turning to the New World rather than linking the Old World together. The undertaking started with “Christopher Columbus, a Genoese pilot, trained in the Atlantic Mediterranean circuit, who proposed to reach the Indies by sailing west.” (Pyne 43) This paid off in the discoveries of Hispaniola and the Antilles, which later became departure spots for further exploration. Pyne explains that due to the extreme efficiency and luck of the Spanish and Portuguese, “They did not leave a lot for anyone else, they were keen to keep others away, and they did not release critical information.” (Pyne 45) The English and Dutch at this time held islands such as Ascension and St. Helena, and also competed in trade throughout the Indian Ocean, but could never achieve the exploratory prowess of the Spaniards or Portuguese.
The next main point that Pyne brings to the table is the importance of isles. It is explained that “the great discoveries seem to be about old and new worlds, about unknown oceans and unimagined continents. In the 15th century they were mostly about islands.” (Pyne 51) Isles, or islands, were essentially safe places that ships could dock, refit, and depart from in a more strategic way than from mainland. Islands extended the reach that countries such as Spain and Portugal had, and thus expanded the possibilities of their reach. This leads into the Armada de Molucca, Ferdinand Magellan’s troupe of ships that circumnavigated the globe – islands certainly made this possible.
When looking at the era, one cannot ignore the topic of encountering unknown groups of people, and Pyne addresses this well. Encounters were “rarely a simple transaction” (Pyne 67) and usually were the first act in a long, drawn-out production of naturalizing indigenous populations. Primarily, there were many language barriers that caused distrust, and epidemic was also a difficult obstacle to overcome. Interestingly, Pyne claims that “Encounter was the great set piece of exploration that kneaded character and conflict into narrative. It was a less simple process of reaching a goal…” (Pyne 75) that eventually received a considerable amount of criticism by the masses. At this time, not only was there the New World being geographically explored, there was also a New World of intellectualism that was sprouting. Pyne explains that “they [navigation and intellectualism] were part of a shared culture undergoing a profound chrysalis” (Pyne 94) of change and revolution. This led to the changing and shaping of Europe’s natural landscape and demographics, and as time went on, a “redefining of the relations between discovering peoples and those they discovered…” (Pyne 106) Pyne closes the text by discussing the end of the Age of Exploration, and that “The legacy of the Great Voyages began to crumble both from internal and external stresses.” (Pyne 111)
Both of the texts discussed are incredibly well-written, informative, and useful for anyone attempting to study the early days of Western Civilization. The Great Ages of Discovery to me, was thrilling to read because of its in-depth exploration of the development of the Caravel, something that I had prior knowledge about. I feel that for text that seemingly specifically focuses on the Age of Exploration and the voyages undertaken during it, there was not nearly as much of a focus on the individuals that made these trips that I thought there would be. For instance, A World Lit Only by Fire goes much more in-depth about the Armada de Molucca and Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage to circumnavigate the globe than Pyne’s text. This does not inherently detract from the value of Pyne’s work but does leave some to be desired since his writing style can be gripping.
Manchester’s text, quite frankly, was oddly structured in my opinion, yet packed fully with useful insight on the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. It seems that his message throughout the text was that the crumbling of the Renaissance was a long, drawn-out process that had many heavy blows until it could stand no more. This was blatant throughout and kept me grounded in the realm my mind needed to be while reading on the topic. On the other hand, I feel that Manchester gives Magellan far too much credit for being the spear that pieced through the darkness, for he was one man. Even the structure in which he does this seems odd to me- the text started off talking about Magellan, then switched to the crumbling of society and the Church, then back to Magellan. I am no professional; therefore, I cannot condemn this text in any way, but it surely was interestingly organized.
At the end of the day, both texts, when utilized together, paint an extremely well-informed picture of the Middle Ages in Europe to analyze and study. Both Manchester and Pyne, though in different ways, give life to historic events and people that enrich one’s understanding of the time, so much so that without any doubt, all students of history should read them. I can fully and confidently claim that after reading and studying these two texts, I have a well-rounded understanding of this era.
Bibliography
Manchester, William. 2009. A World Lit Only By Fire. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Pyne, Stephen J. n.d. The Great Ages Of Discovery. Tuscon, Arizona: University of Arizona Press.
Dalton G. King 