Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones
If you enjoy the BBC’s History programmes then you may be familiar with Dan Jones. If you don’t, then I wouldn’t detain yourself any further with this review. You see, his specialist area is the Middle Ages, and this book is a magisterial and epic attempt to explore the whole of this period in a whopping 700 pages plus. His approach is mainly a conventional narrative account focusing on key events and great men. Onto that chronological thread he hangs, at an appropriate point, chapters on the rise of Islam, the golden age of monasticism, the chivalric code and so on. For someone like me who enjoys books on history but has no deep knowledge, this was a helpful approach. For example, I was able to place the bloody ascendancy of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire as taking place at the same time as Henry II, Richard the Lionheart and John. The reach of Genghis’ terrifying horse soldiers was extensive. His empire is considered to be the biggest in history and Jones suggest his military might would have had a good chance of sweeping through Western Europe except for climate factors and internecine conflict among his successors when he died in 1227.
Jones seems admirably clear about what he means by the Middle Ages. He defines it as beginning when the Roman Empire declined and was no longer able to enforce its authority in all its far-flung lands; and it ends with the emergence of Protestantism at the beginning of the 16th century. Of course, that provides a bit of wiggle room because, as he describes so effectively in the opening section, the decline of the Roman Empire was painfully slow. The Germanic and Gaullist tribes had evolved technologically, militarily and organisationally since the days when they were Caesar’s whipping boys. During the second and third centuries of the new millennium, they continually sniped at the Roman outposts in western Europe. When harsh climate changes pushed tribes such as the Huns south and westward from their Asian and East European homeland, the Roman Empire became crammed with competing forces. Eventually the Visigoths, led by their canny leader Alaric, sacked Rome in 410AD. This cataclysmic event effectively marked the end of the supremacy of the old order and power shifted elsewhere; and in particular to Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire which evolved into Byzantium.
Jones describes the battles, brutalities and shifting power bases with brio and clarity – what could have been a miasma becomes a comprehensible narrative with empires rising and falling. If it is easy to see the 410AD sack of Rome as the formal start of the Middle Ages, then there is also a certain symmetry as Charles V’s sack of the city in 1527 effectively marks the end. The monolithic power block of the Roman Catholic Church and the papacy, which was the most dominant constant for most of the Middle Age period in Europe, was by the sixteenth century just part of a contested Christian faith. People now had a wider range for their faith on which to peg their relationship with the almighty, from obedience to an omnipotent clergy at one end to a personal sense of the divine at the other. And so, the centrality of the individual and modernity were born.
Of course, there is a lot more colour in this romp through a thousand years of history than just defining the scope of its duration. There were thrilling descriptions of the impact of knights in battle – Jones likens them to a regiment of tanks. The section on the rise of monasteries was surprisingly fascinating. Again Jones’ explanations help, such as his point that in their earliest days the monastic life attracted the sons of wealthy lords looking for some purpose and spiritual fulfilment - very much like today’s trustafarians embarking on gap year travels.
Without artificiality or strain, Jones also makes a strong case that the roots of modernity were always there in this long period he believes has been wrongly characterised as the Dark Ages. This is now becoming a prevalent view amongst historians but Jones takes this further by finding parallels with events in our contemporary life. The Peasants Revolt of 1481 is an exciting episode but what is striking is that its roots lay in the decimation of the population due to waves of plague and so the ordinary working man became a valuable and much in demand asset. As a result, Wat Tyler’s followers were no longer willing to accept the harsh conditions and ties of the feudal system: they wanted better pay and better treatment. Sound familiar?
If you want to track the turbulent events between the two sacks of Rome and find out more about the big characters such as Charlemagne and the tropes of this period such as the miracle of the glorious Cathedrals that still stand today, then this is a book for you. Highly recommended.