Maps of Medieval Thought : The Hereford Paradigm

Rating:
Summary: A Journey into the Heart of Medieval Thought and Culture
Review: I have often found that the royal road to understanding of another time or of an exotic place or culture leads through side alleys and odd byways. One can grasp more about the strange thought patterns of the Nazi elite, for example, by reading a small book called THE NAZIS AND THE OCCULT than by tackling the big, fat, broadside history book. One of my favorite books about the medieval mind is Jeffrey Burton Russell's LUCIFER: THE DEVIL IN THE MIDDLE AGES. Now Naomi Kline has given us an elegantly produced, beautifully illustrated, classically well-written guide to medieval culture by focusing on a deerskin vellum map housed in Hereford Cathedral, demonstrating yet again the value of the oblique approach to illuminating the spirit of an age.

Kline's work will be definitive for generations of scholars, but it should bring more than equal joy to all who are interested in intellectual and cultural history and who delight in watching the conjuror/scholar produce a series of dazzling effects. The author looks at the Hereford MAPPA MUNDI, with its rich and teeming images, as a storehouse of knowledge, legend, and symbolic approaches to medieval understanding of the cosmos. These images (lavishly and unforgetably reproduced, and supplemented by hundreds from rare sources) include strange and monstrous races of men, animals from the traditional bestiaries dear to the ancient and medieval world, references to the cult of Alexander the Great, and an array of biblical and theological images and symbolism. All are described with lively insight and intelligence by an author who combines dogged scholarship with subliminal humor and zest.

Kline's very significant overarching theme is the value of the map as mnemonic device in a tradition-based culture where literacy was very rare. It served as a publicly accessible synopsis of many complex and familiar themes and legends that were important and significant to medieval society as a whole.

Kline has also created a companion CD ROM with a stylish narration and great imagery that should be a marvellous classroom aid for teachers at all levels. Like all medieval cultural artifacts, the Mappa Mundi abounds in material that will appeal to all ages.

MAPS OF MEDIEVAL THOUGHT is NOT TO BE MISSED by anyone who loves the life of the mind and the incomparable vitality of the middle ages. Expensive, but worth every farthing!!!

Rating:
Summary: The definitive work on the subject.
Review: Professor Kline's exigesis of the Hereford Mappa Mundi, combining as it does prodigious research, incisive analyses, brilliantly clear writing, and a wealth of detailed illustrations brings the medieval mind to life. It is a work of penetrating scholarship, admirable in every way. An awesome accomplishment!