O.P. Nature, Man and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectivesin the Latin West by M.-D Chenu; Etienne Gilson; Jerome Taylor; Lester K. LittleReview by: John W. BaldwinThe American Historical Review, Vol. 76, No. 5 (Dec., 1971), pp. 1526-1527Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1870532 .

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15 26 Reviews of Books

cultuire was nonoliterate) are exacerbated by the close cultural relationi of the various Sarmatian peoples. As a result, wlhen written evidence provided by observers is inconclusive, or when there simply is nio writteni evidenice, Sulimirski's attrilution of a particular find to a specific ancient people raises dloub)ts in the readler's mindi. Sulimirski's assertion that the Alans were movinig into the Volga steppe region (luring the tlbird centutry Ve.C., more than tlhree hundred years before they are first menitioniedl in the writteni sources, illustrates anothier of the au- thor's methods that is of dubious value.

Tlhough the written sources are not numer- ous, Sulimirski fails to take full advantage of them; this is particularly so when lhe deals with the Alanis in the west, the Sarmatian people concerning whom we are best informed. There were, for example, at least six separate Alan grOupS in Gaul, Italy, ani(d Spaini-Africa during the fiftlh cenltury and(I later, but Suliinirski dis- cusses onily two of them. Tbli role of the Alans ait Conistatntinople is all but ignored, and the great Alan genierals Ardaburius andI Aspar are consigned to oblivion. Sulimirski also misses some very importanit arclheological evi(lenice: an inscriptioni from Ven(dmnie bearing the Alan name Gerasp ancl the C(entral Asiatic bow- leggedl man motif found oni Aquitanlianl-style

artifacts. Sulirnirski's failure to use the writteni sources adlequately is exacerbated by hiis ignor- atice of recenit sclholarly work (lone on the A\lans in the west.

As historv The Sarmations is iinadequate be- cause the auithor dloes inot take fuill adlvanitage of the writteni souirces. As a guide to art andl

arclheology the book is of con sidlerable value. BERNARD S. BACHRACH

U iniersity of Minnesota-, rl lienepolis

NI EDIEVAL

MI.-D. CHENU, O.P. ANriture, ManIIJ and Society in the Tzwelfth Centniry: E.ssays on Newv Theologi- cal Perspectives ini the Latin WVest. With a preface bV ETIENNE GILSON. Selected, edited, andi translate(l by JEROME TAYLOR and LESTER

K. LITTLE. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1968. Pp. xxi, 36i. 512.5(.

When NI.-I. Clheit's La thl eologie all dotnzie'me siecle appeare(l in 1957 it receivedl scant notice

from the hiistorical journals of this country. From the perspective of more than a decade there is now no dloubt that it is the leadinig interpretation of medieval intellectual hiistory to have appeared since World War ii and that it fully merits the present excellent translation into English. For the English verYs on Professors Taylor and Little have selected nine of the original nineteen chapters, updated the scholarly apparatus, and translated into English the Latin texts as well. Now that Cleniu's work has become a classic it is appropriate to attempt an explanation of how it best serves the historian. Altlhough Chenu originally wrote the chapters as separate articles, he nonetheless conceives of theology as the all-embracing discipline of the twelfth century and thereby providles an undler- lying unity to the book. With masterly skill he is able to elucidate the interconnections among speculative thought, literary texts, educational institutions, and social classes. Working with such diverse materials, lhe searches out their points of conitact in an effort to arrive at an interior comprelieision of the twelfth century.

Historians will be particularly interested in three of his approatchles. The opening chapters probe the internal coherence of certain im- portant concepts of the period, suclh as nature, man, and the symljolic mentality. An especially helpful study in this line distinguislhes the varieties and ambiguities of Platonism in the twelfth century. Cheniu then turns hiis attention to historiography by exploring the mutual inter- action between history and theology and the competition among theologianis between the his- torical and the rational approach. The final chapters slhow how the social context condi- tioned religious reform. It was not the moniks of the rural countryside but the canons and laity of the newly prosperous towns who pro- duced the evangelical awakening of the twelfth century. The populous urban milieu inspired new ideals of preaclhing and poverty that pre- pared the way for the men(licant orders. Social conditions were influential not onily in popular piety, however, but also in theological specula- tion. In a noteworthy chapter Chenu traces lhow the urban environment encouraged the professionalization of the theological master andl his perfection of the scholastic techniques of questioning, which in turn transformed theology from Biblical exegesis to rationally

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Medieval 1527

disciplined doctrine. Because of the social ac- ceptance of the professional theological master, the views of theologians could advance beyond those of past authorities. Thus a social environi- ment prompted an element of progress within the traditions of tlheology. Not only is this a work for theologians, because Clhenu under- stands theology, but also for historians, because of the pivotal place of theology in medieval society. Through Clienu's insights we can better understand the twelfth century.

JOHN WV. BALDWIN

johns Hophins University

WILLIAM ANDERSON. Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance. Foreword by SIR JOHN HACKETT. New York: Random House. 1970. Pp. 304- $35.00.

This is a strange book, at once difficult to classify and to review. For one thing, the title is completely misleading. Clhapter 1 is a survey of the history of fortification from earliest times to the Carolingian era, and the final chapters go far beyond the Renaissance, even up to the "Wimbledon baronial" of late Victorian times. Nor is this volume devoted entirely to castles as the term is generally uinderstood. Fortifica- tions of every variety are dealt with, ranging from the rtude enclosures of primitive Germanic and Slavic peoples to the sophisticated mural defenses of Carcassonne and the sixteenth-cen- tury outworks of Prague. There are long sec- tions dealitng with the castle as the cradle of European secular literature and witlh medieval strategy and tactics in the open field, topics that are at best peripheral to the main thesis. Even though the page format is generous, to cram this much material, along with 396 plates -many of them full page-and 28 maps atnd plans, illtO 293 pages is to do less than justice to the medieval castle.

The reader must also be on the lookout for some fairly obvious misstatements and faulty interpretations. That there were anything like sixty thousand Christian knights at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 (p. 151) is open to serious question without supporting evidence that such a number of men and mounts could have been provisioned in a rugged, semiarid terrain that the enemy had occupied for some weeks prior to the Chiristian advance, It is also fairly well

established that the author of De Exputgnatione Lyxbonensi was not a cleric (p. 150). A final criticism is that Mr. Anderson has failed to appreciate the professional capabilities of medieval commanders. Following a long-out- moded conception of warfare in the Middle Ages, he insists that the strategic and tactical offensive was the sole expedient of the medieval general. This view ignores completely the suc- cessful campaigns of the early Latin kings of Jerusalem who avoided combat whenever pos- sible and aclhieved victory by means of strategic maneuver that preserved both the field army and the vital fortresses. Nor is adequate notice taken of the occasions on which the victoriouis army stood on the defensive to profit from the ill-considered assaults of the enemy, as at Tenchebrai (i i o6) and the Standard ( 138).

Despite the foregoing criticism, which may seem unduly harsh, and despite the formidable price, this is a book that will be indispensable to anyone who has even the sliglhtest interest in either medieval military history or the hiistory of fortification. Nowhere else can there be found a study that brings the military arclhitec- ture of East Central Europe and the Balkans into the total framework of warfare in the Middle Ages. And certainly in no other volume can be founid the extravagant wealth of illus- tration that the author and his collaborator, Wim Swaarn, have contrived to put between covers. If mortgaging the family homestead is necessary, do so; the reward will be well worth the sacrifice.

JOHN BEELER

University of North Carolina, Greensboro

J. L. KIRBY. Henry IV of England. [Hamden, Conn.:] Archon Books. 1971. Pp. 280. 57.75.

Those who choose to write biographies of

medieval men of affairs realize that their labors must be tilted toward the res gestae rather than the vita. J. L. Kirby takes care to warn us in advance that hiis work on Henry iv has "a some- what old fashioned air" and consists "mainly of the story of his reign."

But if the story is well told a legitimate pur pose is still served, for between the long article in the Dictionary of National Biography written by T. F. Tout in 1917 and the four volumes of

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