A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

In taking 784 pps to cover 100 years (~ 8 pps/year) and in writing with such density (the text is rich in detail and factoids) … allowing the reader to transport himself into various medieval rolls (serf, knight, woman-wife, pope etc). I suspect every modern reader would reject medieval life (constant war, disease and death at a young age, religious tyranny, grinding poverty etc). The coverage of medieval Catholicism is rich in detail. How can anyone identify with Catholicism after learning about its abject corruption and repeated sponsorship of mass murder, brutality to its followers & foe alike, wholesale purveyor of hate and revenge etc? It becomes clear that Christianity is not a religion, but rather a cult ― all that is necessary is membership & once inside that cult everything goes (no rules, restrictions, limitations or obligations). Check your ethics and morality at the door. Everything has a price tag. Knights were the mercenary enforcers of Catholicism (no different than today's Hell’s Angels’ saprophytic relationship with drug dealers). Both were always looking for ways to gin up a war with the Saracens because war meant profit – no different than today’s Raytheon, Lockheed Martin or Blackwater. Like other great historians BT does not editorialize. Period. Her storytelling is so artful and penetrating she makes the reader glean these historic truths of past failures by assimilation. BT simply lets the story play . . . and play. This is history up close and personal & seduces the reader to immerse himself into the calamitous 14th Century so as to have a visceral knowledge of its angst, horror and death. Lastly, the title (A Distant Mirror) is a brilliant metaphor. In seeing the past so clearly one can envision the future ― all Hell will break loose again and soon. BT will be laughing from her grave at the awful mess we have made contaminating the air, waters and land of this unique planet [it’s a dumb animal that soils its own nest] and again unleash the horsemen of the Apocalypse. . . our past is about to catch up with our future for we have learned nothing from our errant ways.

A Distant Mirror / 9780307793690 I selected this book for a book club discussion, not realizing that it's ~700 pages long rather than ~400 pages long. Whoops! However, this is a completely awesome book and everyone had a ball reading and discussing it, even if several members weren't able to finish on time, and I recommend it highly as a fun and fascinating, as well as wonderfully researched and sourced, look into 14th century culture. "A Distant Mirror" is a look at the 14th century and follows the life of Enguerrand de Coucy VII as a vehicle for examining every facet of life during this time period. If the idea of following the life and biography of a 14th century French lord you've probably never heard of turns you off to the idea of this book (as it briefly did me when selecting this book to read), don't let it! Tuchman is an absolute master at her work, and manages to make Enguerrand VII's life deeply interesting and entertaining, while using the larger narrative to talk about every aspect of 14th century life in griping detail. Indeed, the first 8 chapters (of 27 total) deal largely with 14th century life before even really introducing Enguerrand VII, and while the entire book is 100% concentrated awesome, these opening chapters are definitely my favorite. Tuchman examines the 14th century ideals of religion and chivalry (as well as when and how and why the ideal diverged from reality), the social and political climate of the 14th century for France and some of her surrounding neighbors, the daily lives of both nobles and commoners (including their entertainments, their religious observances, and their access to medicine), and the impact of the Black Death and the Papal Schism in shaping history and social thought. Tuchman is a truly entertaining writer, and I love how she shows her work as she goes along, and grounds sources before using them by warning the reader as to how accurate and/or unbiased the source is understood to be. (One terribly amusing anecdote of a brigand company shaking down the Pope for money is prefaced with the note that "it has been said of Cuvelier that 'the tyranny of rhyme left him little leisure for accuracy.'") And while this is absolutely a history book, it reads just as fluidly and fascinatingly as you could ever hope for -- I finished all ~700 pages and was left with nothing but admiration for this book and the feeling that Tuchman had made a really large and complex subject very accessible to the lay-person. A note on the audiobook version of this book: There are currently two different versions of this book available on Audible, one narrated by Nadia May and one narrated by Aviva Skell. I tried listening to both books, and I recommend the Nadia May version. Her narration is a little slower than Aviva Skell's (indeed, there is a 2.5 hour difference between the two versions, and I think that's entirely pacing and not reflective of new/added material between the versions), and I found the pauses and slower pace necessary in order to adequately process all the material in this book. And Nadia May's pronunciations of the French names and places in this book are delightful to hear, so there's no need to worry that you might not be getting the full experience with her. I absolutely recommend this book if you have any interest in the 14th century or in chivalry and its effect on nations when large sections of a privileged populace are armed and dangerous. ~ Ana Mardoll

I recall 30-some years ago the first time I saw the great cathedral in Richmond, Britain and wondering how could it be that this enormous structure be so remote from people? Like the Salisbury Plain … how could the 12th century version of Lincoln have possibly mustered the labor and wealth to build this structure taller than the great pyramid? It was the tallest building in the world for 238 years. After a few minutes of thinking, I remembered Barbara Tuchman's “Distant Mirror”. Lincoln, like the whole regions of modern Brittany and Picardy have never recovered from the 14th century. I someway stumbled on the Kindle enabled edition. I don’t know how. The original print edition would have been mightily enhanced with an internet. When it was first published, “A Distant Mirror” was a Dewey Decimal System exploration in extrimis. There were simply too many side alleys to be explored I read the book as soon as it was published around 1982. The ‘distant mirror’ that the early ‘80’s reader related to was the memory of the 70’s becoming the '80's … hot and cold war, economic “malaise”, pandemic swine flu, upward economic stagnation and class struggle, 16% usurious mortgage rates, gas lines week end and out, a predicted ice age, etc, etc. … it was bad, really bad. How bad could it get? Tuchman had perfect timing and an intuitive narrative to 'parallels' from the 14th century that frankly no one had much knowledge of at the time. In my 25-30 year-old mind, Tuchman captured my rapt attention. The book remains in the top 10 historicals for me for the reason that there are no other similar historicals following the life of one extraordinary, little known Enguerrand de Coucy. The first reading has stayed with me for many years. I would have rated it a 6-star at the time. The re-read goes to show that my memory was not as crisp as I once imagined. This Kindle enhanced re-read revealed one thing I don't recall noticing at the time. The elephant in the room is Tuchman's 20th century moral/social critique to the 14th century. Her opinion was not necessary for the narrative to be excellent. How could I have missed that Tuchman was a non-historian and elitist of old Morgenthau wealth? I don't know. I'm more discriminating in historical authors these days before committing to a 600-page read. 99.5% of the narrative is still amazing. .5% is naïve and materially questionable and it jerks you back when you see it. Modern historical deep dives simply don't follow the Tuchman pattern today for a reason. Who are we to judge a nearly 600 year-old generational period when half of the people you know died of the plague then half again died 20 years later? Most of your family today would have never survived birth then. Without the Capetian and Valois propaganda and fake 'chivalry' source Froissart, Tuchman's sourcing is narrow. I can’t believe I’m critical. This was an historical monument to my fascination in deep diving history. Tuchman’s decidedly sharp positions and determinations have not survived the test of our greater historical knowledge today. The Kindle read is phenomenal. What was a full-on Dewey Decimal System labor has become instant access to sources, places, names and opens lines into other dimensions and 14th century dynamics. I may have spent more time venturing into references than the book. Finally, I so wanted to re-visit the sense of my first read. Perhaps I was bound for some disappointment. The 14th century, the 13th century … whatever century was nothing comparable to the present any more than the present is akin to the future. History frankly is not what repeats. The base nature of our species constructs and behavior are unsuppressed and this is what is repeated. In the current context of socio-historical writing, 4 stars. I would doubt the book would be the huge success if it was a new History release.

Who is Enguerrand de Coucy and why should we care? Coucy was a French noble whose life and position intertwined neatly with many of the momentous events that defined the 14th Century. He appears, Zelig-like, at the head of armies, at the elbow of both the Kings of France and England and in the great councils of state that determined the actions of a nascent French nation. His story is remarkable and remarkably well documented. His life and actions serve as the central thread that ties the events surrounding the Hundred Year's War between England and France together in this marvelous book. Tuchman displays this late Middle Age period in all of its nasty burtality. The Great Plague hit in several waves, reducing Europe's population by between one half and one third. A century of warfare left roving bands of knights and armed men loose in the countryside to pillage and destroy between summons to fight for king and country. The common man and woman, evolving from a status of near slavery to severe oppression, owed service to their lord and taxes to almost everyone. Tuchman brilliantly weaves the above facts of life with the politics and struggles between rival nobles, kingdoms and a corrupt church. This book is very well written, as I had always heard Tuchman's works to be. She possesses the rare ability to write solid history -- this book is fact filled, and thoroughly documented -- in the manner of a great storyteller. Her characters and events, leavened by Tuchman's wry observations and logical conclusioins, are marvelously developed. So much happened in this time period that it does bear scrutiny. Chivalry, the code of the Knight that was suppossed to benefit people in exchange for a life free from common worries, had denegrated into a corrupt facade that shielded ruthless brigands from law and sanction. The great Church, long the common denominator among disparate peoples became first hopelessly corrupt then divided for decades by rival popes more interested in Europe's balance of power among earthly kingdoms than in promoting the Kingdom to whom they suppossedly gave vasselage. Great landed nobility struggled with each other and began a transformation from nearly autonomous players in an ever changing system of alliances across nationalities to becomming the building blocks of the infant state. Policy and war rose and fell on the ability, whim and maturity of changing kings. Although our own recently passed Twentieth Century could witness evil and bloodletting on a more sustained and organized basis than any that preceeded it -- hence the title "Through a Distant Mirror," Tuchman's work also illustrates how far society has come in those parts of the world where it is civil and grounded in natural rights. Thus, Tuchman's book shows both the constant danger through time of man's darker side as well as the progress earned by those who have managed to diffuse power and ground everyday people with a voice in their affairs and rights that can not be abrogated. This is a marvelous work from every facet. I am now ordering other Tuchman books to see how she handles man's affairs in centuries distant from that enjoyed by Enguerrand de Coucy.

Barbara W. Tuchman won two Pulitzer Prizes, for GUNS OF AUGUST (1962) and STILWELL AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN CHINA, 1911-45 (1970). My Encyclopedia Britannica says, "It then took her seven years to research and write A DISTANT MIRROR: THE CALAMITOUS 14TH CENTURY (1978), which some critics considered her most original and profound work; it attempted to reanimate the character and feel of life in 14th-century France, when most primary sources from the time tended to be chronicles or tributes, with little evidence of real personalities." A DISTANT MIRROR reflects images of many colorful personalities, but Tuchman uses one person to move her story along. This is Enguerrand VII de Coucy, a prominent French noble and knight who fought in many battles, who married a daughter of English king Edward III, and who served as agent and aide to French king Charles VI. This is not, however, a biography. It is an easy-to-read narrative about 14th-century France with significant attention given also to England and Italy. Bits and pieces about other countries are here too, and Holy Roman Emperors Charles IV and Wenceslas enter the picture. Major topics are the 100 Years War, the Black Death, Henry II of England, Charles VI of France, Christianity, and the Schism, a time when there were two and briefly even three popes. A few of the many other topics that receive at least anecdotal coverage are John Wycliffe, Geoffrey Chaucer, flagellant fanatics, entranced dancers, companies of brigands, Brethren of the Free Spirit, Catherine of Siena, the See in Avignon, and violent Pope Urban VI. Because some topics stretch into the 15th century, she ties up those loose ends in her "Epilog." Normally I despise passages of descriptive detail. They are slow. Tuchman includes some, but no more than 5% of her content, and they are necessary to immerse the reader into the environment. Notes and bibliography are plentiful, and the maps and index were helpful. The book has many plates of 14th-century art, though I think only the hardcover editions have any in color. (For the hardcover, here at amazon, search Books for this: a distant mirror the calamitous 14th century hardcover [no quotation marks]. You should get a number of hits for hardcover editions. Select an affordable price, new or used.) This work of history is a paragon of the genre, and I recommend it to persons of all ages and of all times.

An extraordinary and beautifully detailed history of a tumultuous century. Well organized and researched, “A Distant Mirror” chronicles the incredibly destructive forces of the plague, the papal schism, and perhaps the end of chivalry.

This is a research book that doesn't read like a research book. Barbara provides the history of the 14th century through the eyes and life of the Sire de Coucy, Enguerrand VII. Granted he was born around the middle of the century, but the years before his birth set up his life. During these 100 years, the French fought regularly against the British, themselves, Avignon, and the Papal States. The Black Plague and famine came repeatedly to Europe in the 14th century. I was surprised at how much calamity happened during this hundred-year stretch. Barbara ties it all together wonderfully. It's a long book. You can see where George R. R. Martin was influenced by history to build his world of Westeros. There are numerous parallels. If you really want to know about life in the 14th century, this tome is for you.

I owe a lot to Ms. Tuchman. You see, for five years I had conducted extensive research into the Knights Templar, and had a big gap:"the feel" of what it was like to live back then. My story THE TEMPLARS, TWO KINGS, AND A POPE takes place between 1293-1315,and I found that A Distant Mirror gave me all I wanted to know about what it was like to be a knight, or a peasant, or a nobleman in those troubling days. I wanted to know what people ate, what they wore, what someone like me would read, think and want out of life. I learned all that from Barbara Tuchman, but also that while the 14th century saw the beginning of the 100-year war and the first wave of the black plague, it also saw tremendous advances. For the first time books were being mass-produced by guilds of scribes, which made them accessible. The knowledge that the Arabs acquired from the books at the Library of Alexandria in the 4th century was percolating back to Europe. Sewers and piped water were being built in Paris, and scholars at its university were learning about Algebra, medicine, and astronomy. They would also learn how to make cement all over again. That's when Marco Polo's account of his travels came out, and people learned about the black stones the Chinese burned in place of charcoal or wood. But perhaps of equal import, gunpowder entered warfare and made walled cities and armor obsolete. A Distant Mirror did a good job of corroborating a key element in my book, and it's that the kings of France had concocted a scheme to conquer the world, all they needed was a large army, a compliant pope, the defeat of the English king, and to get rid of the Templars. I found what I had called "the French Scheme" still alive in Ms. Tuchman's pages, and it was all the validation I needed. I also learned about Marguerite Poret and the Beguines, another case of a secret Gnostic practice and how the Church dealt with such. The Templars had their own Gnostic society, The Brotherhood,(secret until the 1600's) but they managed to survive. I enjoyed Ms. Tuchman's scholarship and writing so much, that since then I have read her account of WWI and her excellent biography of General Joe Stillman which told me so much about modern China.

Um trabalho minucioso, profundo, da vida na Idade Média.

Great book .An interesting rainy Sunday read..

One of the best history books I have ever read. Recommended for anyone wanting to get an overview of the Western European world of the high Middle Ages. Beautifully written, superbly researched, insight shines through nearly every page. It is long, and it is detailed. It spans political, social, some military and cultural history, and so it is not for someone with a specific interest in one of those areas; it is a book for those who want to understand life in the 14th century, a period in which the old world shifted on its axis, wars ravaged the continent, the Black Death undermined an entire economic/social system as millions died in less than two years, reducing the European population by as much as a third. Barbara Tuchman leads us through this calamitous century brilliantly - it is a magnificent work.

A great book and a must-read not only for those interested in history (but for them in particular, hence 5 points). I vaguely remember August 1914 which I also liked very much.