A World Lit Only By Fire Analysis

A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance Portrait of An Age, was written in 1993 by William Manchester (1922-2004) who was an American author, historian, and biographer. He wrote over a dozen books and was given the National Humanities Medal, and the Abraham Lincoln Literary Award. Manchester’s work, A World Lit by Fire discusses the era known as the Dark Ages with its Medieval mindset throughout Europe, the development of the Renaissance, and the rise of humanism. Manchester argues that the mindset of Medieval Europe was a simple one where the notion of “Self-identity” did not exist, and where life was centrally controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. People gravitated to the Church’s congregations to become a part …show more content…
Humanists put man at the center of his own life, and put man back at the center of thoughts and ideas and celebrated it. Others chose to alter the interpretations of the Church’s beliefs to align with their own ideas. Manchester argues that the significance of these events and new ideas moved Europe forward into a more progressive society, and says that these radical ideas propelled Europe into the Modern era of thoughts. Significant examples that Manchester mentions are the rise of prominent public religious figures and their ideas coming into common use. He says that although their actions were perhaps not originally against the Church itself, they opened the doors needed for change. One of those figures was Martin Luther who avidly spoke out against Church follies. “The Luther who would make history was reemerging: willful, selfless, intolerant, pious, brilliant, contemptuous of learning and art, but powerful in conviction and driven by a vision of pure, unexploited Christianity.” Manchester mentions that Luther, although not a rebellious figure at first, started the spread of the idea that the Church was not as infallible as Europeans had believed, and was used by his followers as a stepping stone toward more radical …show more content…
Manchester’s A World Lit only by Fire is successful in describing Europe’s transition from the Middle Age’s intellectually primitive society with its simplicity of life, to its rebirth in the Renaissance. The author has presented a strong argument to support his belief that Medieval Europe was a shadow of what it had been before the fall of the Roman Empire. He successfully shows the culture of the Middle Ages and the development of the countries and territories throughout Europe, while also describing the structure of religion and government that affected the citizen’s daily lives and their beliefs. He presents vast information to successfully present his case that Western Europe was being held down by the Catholic Church’s authority and power in both religious and political matters. His claims have proven validity as shown in his vast use of secondary sources and accounts. His book has listed over seven pages of acknowledgments and sources and a comprehensive index consisting of fifteen pages. Manchester’s work also convincingly describes in detail the events which led to the coming of the Renaissance. He shows how history was shaped with the schisms in the Church caused by figures such as Calvin and Luther and the development of Protestantism in many areas of Europe. The conclusions presented by him are convincing and offer different a perspective of ideas towards the various subjects within the period. Manchester defines Magellan, even though he was not the first