-Virigina Woolf
As one of my professors, Geoffrey Koziol, told us during a lecture, one cannot study the Middle Ages without studying the history of The Church. These were the centuries of the church. That figures a large part in my fascination with this time period. People were enormously pious. People believed deeply in something so pure and so incredibly, to me, beautiful. The strife and centuries of martyrdom the Christians endured in the first four centuries of existence, struggling to establish themselves as something more than a mere Jewish sect was truly phenomenal when one considers the way Western Civilization turned out. More than just the historical implications of Christianity but its development and integration into society makes its study compelling. The Church Doctors, men of other worldly minds, formulating deep spritual arguments in defense of faith. Then one considers what people believed. The miracles and deep virtues of the Saints. All things that wrought such a fascinating period in history. The notions of Kingship and Chivalry. Lost arts amongst our culture. Huge wars, just as bloody as today, fought by men on horseback with swords in metal armor.
Imagining such things, is in my mind, something like a fantasy novel. At times I can find it hard to believe such a thing existed. But the fact that it did, makes its study so incredibly compelling. I do however in fact find myself an anomaly amidst scholars who find modern history more intriguing. Modern History is great, but it doesn't fill my mind with wonder as does the Medieval.
Professor Robin Einhorn
Andrew Keitt
Professor Robert Brentano
Professor Gerard Caspary
(Spring 2000)
Professor Geoffrey Koziol
Professor Thomas Brady
Professor Barry Eichengreen
Professor Christopher DeRosa