Mr. Manchester's account of Medieval Europe, its corrupted institutions, its painful trials, and its self-destructive arrogance, alternately burns with indignance and sighs with exasperation. Many have tried to explain or explain away the darkest time in the history of the West, that period roughly between the end of the Roman Empire and the don of 17th century enlightenment, a thousand year stretch of anti-science dominated by a zealous adherence to the Catholic church. Mr. Manchester adds to this debate by exemplifying the lengths to which powerful figures of the time, specifically bishops and monarchs, were willing to go to maintain a stranglehold on power. We see how, time after time, big institutions stomped out the ember of scientific knowledge, unless of course it suited them to foster it, all in the name of obedience to the lord.
We know now the folly of large institutions. We understand that they accrete power unto themselves and, in doing so, set about destroying themselves and all they stand for. For as lord Acton so ably put it, absolute power corrupts absolutely. And this is the shame of this world that is only lit by fire, that the two groups invested with absolute authority, the church and the state, were so self-interested and so corrupt, that they refused to relinquish any authority, no matter what cost to humanity in lives, in careers, in hopes. This is an excellent and depressing book about the power of ignorance and centralized authority. No correlation to our times at all, noooo... (4/5 Stars)
No comments:
Post a Comment