Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - Need a Book Suggestion

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JoelS
04-24-10, 08:58 PM
I'm recently interested in the political history of the Church. How did it go from what was essentially a rag-tag cult on the fringes of Roman culture to the power behind most of the thrones in Europe by the year 1100?

More specifically, the period from about 30AD to about 900AD. By the 900's the Church was quite powerful and wealthy.

Any suggestions that aren't religious in nature?

dewaday
05-25-10, 07:52 PM
I'm recently interested in the political history of the Church. How did it go from what was essentially a rag-tag cult on the fringes of Roman culture to the power behind most of the thrones in Europe by the year 1100?

More specifically, the period from about 30AD to about 900AD. By the 900's the Church was quite powerful and wealthy.

Any suggestions that aren't religious in nature?

Single word answer would be Charlemagne, but it's way more complicated. Any book covering the middle ages will by default cover the rise of the church. Here's 3 to start.

Civilization of the Middle Ages by Cantor- in depth survey of the MA's
Short history of Byzantium by Norwich- the Roman empire moves east and the rest is history.
God's Crucible by Lewis- how western Europe was settled by the barbarians and kept honest by Al Andalus.

Hardest part about reading this era is getting your head into just how different the world and it's people were from us. Great stuff, and the accidents and ironies of history are pretty fascinating.