Bridging the Medieval-modern Divide: Medieval Themes in the World of the Reformation

256 Pages·2016·3.173 MB·English

by  James Muldoon

Bridging the Medieval-Modern Divide
The debate about when the Middle Ages ended and the modern era began,
has long been a staple of the historical literature. In order to further this
debate, and illuminate the implications of a longue durée approach to the
history of the Reformation, this collection offers a selection of essays that
address the medieval-modern divide.
Covering a broad range of topics – encompassing legal, social, cultural,
theological and political history – the volume asks fundamental questions
about how we regard history, and what historians can learn from colleagues
working in other fields that may not at first glance appear to offer any
obvious links. By focusing on the concept of the medieval-modern divide
– in particular the relation between the Middle Ages and the Reformation
– each chapter examines how a medievalist deals with a specific topic or
issue that is also attracting the attention of Reformation scholars. In so
doing it underlines the fact that both medievalists and modernists are
often involved in bridging the medieval-modern divide, but are inclined
to construct parallel bridges that end between the two starting points but
do not necessarily meet. As a result, the volume challenges assumptions
about the strict periodization of history, and suggests that a more flexible
approach will yield interesting historical insights.
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Bridging the Medieval-
Modern Divide
Medieval Themes in the World of the Reformation
Edited by
JAMES MULDOON
Rutgers University-Camden, USA
First published 2013 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2013 James Muldoon
James Muldoon has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editor of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Muldoon, James, 1935-
Bridging the medieval-modern divide : medieval themes in
the world of the Reformation. – (Catholic Christendom,
1300-1700)
1. Reformation. 2. Middle Ages.
I. Title II. Series
940.2’3-dc23
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bridging the medieval-modern divide : medieval themes in the world of the
reformation / edited by James Muldoon.
pages cm. – (Catholic christendom, 1300-1700)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-4763-4 (hardcover) 1. Middle Ages--Historiography.
2. Medievalists. 3. Reformation--Historiography. I. Muldoon, James, 1935-
D116.B75 2013
940.1072–dc23
2012038191
ISBN 9781409447634 (hbk)
ISBN 9781315569963 (ebk)
Contents
List of Figures and Tables vii
Series Editor’s Preface ix
Preface xi
Introduction
Bridging the Medieval-Modern Divide 1
James Muldoon
1 Medieval Roots of the Modern Image of Islam:
Fact and Fiction 23
Meriem Pages
2 Toleration in Medieval Europe:
Theoretical Principles and Historical Lessons 45
Cary J. Nederman
3 ‘Atheism’ in Late Medieval Travel Writings 65
Margaret Kim
4 Purgatory and Modernity 87
George Dameron
5 The Revival of Medieval Biblical Exegesis in
the Early Modern World:
The Example of Carolingian Biblical Commentaries 107
Burton Van Name Edwards
6 Continuity or Radical Change? Care of the
Poor, Medieval and Early Modern 143
Jeannine Olson
7 Rights, Property, and the Creation
of International Law 175
James Muldoon
vi BRIDGING THE MEDIEVAL-MODERN DIVIDE
8 “A Divine Precept of Fraternal Union”:
The Maxim Quod omnes tangit in Anglo-
American Thought to the Ratification
of the Constitution” 205
Bruce Braisington
Afterword 225
Index 239
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
5.1 Haimo, in Isaiam, Cologne, Quentell, 1531.
From the author’s collection 122
5.2 Haimo, in Isaiam, Cologne, Eucharius
Cervicorn, 1531. From the author’s collection 123
Tables
5.1 Chronological distribution of sixteenth-century
imprints of Carolingian Bible Commentaries 113
5.2 Geographic distribution of sixteenth-century
imprints of Carolingian Bible Commentaries 114
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Series Editor’s Preface
The still-usual emphasis on medieval (or Catholic) and reformation (or
Protestant) religious history has meant neglect of the middle ground,
both chronological and ideological. As a result, continuities between the
middle ages and early modern Europe have been overlooked in favor of
emphasis on radical discontinuities. Further, especially in the later period,
the identification of ‘reformation’ with various kinds of Protestantism
means that the vitality and creativity of the established church, whether in
its Roman or local manifestations, has been left out of account. In the last
few years, an upsurge of interest in the history of traditional (or Catholic)
religion makes these inadequacies in received scholarship even more
glaring and in need of systematic correction. The series will attempt this
by covering all varieties of religious behavior, broadly interpreted, not just
(or even especially) traditional institutional and doctrinal church history.
It will to the maximum degree possible be interdisciplinary, comparative
and global, as well as non-confessional. The goal is to understand religion,
primarily of the ‘Catholic’ variety, as a broadly human phenomenon, rather
than as a privileged mode of access to superhuman realms, even implicitly.
The period covered, 1300–1700, embraces the moment which saw
an almost complete transformation of the place of religion in the life of
Europeans, whether considered as a system of beliefs, as an institution,
or as a set of social and cultural practices. In 1300, vast numbers of
Europeans, from the pope down, fully expected Jesus’s return and the
beginning of His reign on earth. By 1700, very few Europeans, of whatever
level of education, would have subscribed to such chiliastic beliefs. Pierre
Bayle’s notorious sarcasms about signs and portents are not idiosyncratic.
Likewise, in 1300 the vast majority of Europeans probably regarded
the pope as their spiritual head; the institution he headed was probably
the most tightly integrated and effective bureaucracy in Europe. Most
Europeans were at least nominally Christian, and the pope had at least
nominal knowledge of that fact. The papacy, as an institution, played a
central role in high politics, and the clergy in general formed an integral
part of most governments, whether central or local. By 1700, Europe
was divided into a myriad of different religious allegiances, and even
those areas officially subordinate to the pope were both more nominally
Catholic in belief (despite colossal efforts at imposing uniformity) and also
in allegiance than they had been four hundred years earlier. The pope had
become only one political factor, and not one of the first rank. The clergy,