Reviews

The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century by Charles Homer Haskins

siria's review against another edition

3.0

This is one of the foundational books in the field of medieval studies, and as such worth reading despite its venerable age. (It was first published in 1927.) Haskins was one of the pioneers in reassessing the Middle Ages, demonstrating that the twelfth century is a key period in the history of Europe, a time of intellectual revitalisation and profound socio-economic change. Haskins writes quite fluidly and accessibly (though of course at several points he sees no need to translate the Latin quotations which he provides), and it's interesting to see here the beginnings of several avenues of inquiry which later medievalists would follow. That said, this book is almost ninety years old, and its scholarship is quite dated and has been surpassed in many ways: not least because Haskins twelfth-century Europe is inhabited almost entirely, it seems, by men. Worth reading for those who are studying the field.