The Cambridge History of Christianity: Early Medieval Christianities, c. 600–c. 1100. Edited by Thomas F. X. Noble and Julia M. H. Smith. The Cambridge History of Christianity 3.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xxiiþ846 pp.$195.00 cloth.

摘要

Peter Brown’s elegant and learned essay, “Introduction: Christendom, c. 600,”nopens Early Medieval Christianities,c. 600–c. 1100, the third volume in ThenCambridge History of Christianity. His vision is panoramic; from VisigothicnSpain to the Sasanian Empire, moving in and out from “churched” andn“unchurched” Christianities, from urban episcopal “nerve centres” to ruraln“de-Christianized” regions, in a sweeping and evocative narrative. John H.nVan Engen ends the volume with a surprisingly parochial essay,n“Conclusion: Christendom, c. 1100,” which, apart from focusing exclusivelynon western Europe after 1100, seems unaware of (or simply has no interestnin) either the early medieval world or the intentions and objectives of thenother contributors. Between these two essays are twenty-nine mostlynexceptional articles (largely exemplifying Brown’s expansive vision) spreadnover five thematic parts by thirty-two leading scholars. The volume morenthan justifies the historiographical assumption of contingent and variablenearly medieval “Christianities” rather an unchanging and immutablen“Christianity.”