'Millennium' by Tom Holland

Hello Hivers and Book Clubbers,

High time for another book review. We'll return to 'proper' history for this one. The book is 'Millennium', written in 2008 by British historian Tom Holland. I've read books by him before, which were about ancient Rome and Greece, and enjoyed them a lot. His style is clearly more towards the side of the narrative; less academic in style, and more geared towards the story. Thus, they serve as good introductions, and it's up to the reader to delve in further where they'd want to themselves.

Millennium?

So what is up with the millennium, that it warrants an about 420 pages long book? A millennium, as most will know, is a period of 1000 years. It takes on another meaning within the Christian context, however. Christians of all ages have been pondering one very important question; when will Christ return to earth? In the 10th century, many people, both clergy and laymen, started to think it might be the year 1000, exactly 1000 years after Christ's birth (and the start of our calender). Religion is a central theme in the book, as it was in the lives of many Europeans at the time.

Holland describes European history around this time. The perspectives are manifold: he talks about Spain, which at the time was one of the frontlines of Christendom. The muslim realm of Al-Andalus held over half of the Iberian peninsula at the time, but was slowly losing ground to the Spanish kingdom. Alfonso VI of Leon reached a milestone in 1085, when he recaptured Toledo, the capital of Visigothic Spain.

Another perspective is pre-conquest England, which was ruled in the 10th century by the Anglo-Saxons, but beset by the Danes. The Danelaw (interesting period) held sway over a significant part of England, with Northumbria held in its entirety. The Anglo-Saxon kings of England would slowly get rid of them, only to face a two-pronged attack in 1066.

Norwegian king Harold Hardrada would invade in the north, but would be defeated by Harold Godwinson at Stamford Bridge. At almost the same time, William the Conqueror would land in the south, and proceed to make the conquest he would be named after; he defeated Harold's army, killed Harold in battle, and would terrorize England to accept his rule. The 'harrying of the North' in 1069 is one of the most remarkable terror-campaigns of human history, though the book mentions it briefly.

The Normans were descendants of Vikings that settled down in what is today still known as Normandy (hence the same names). France was a divided realm at the time; central control from Paris and the surrounding areas was quite minimal. The Normans were made Dukes, and slowly integrated into the French whole. France also held the most important religious site outside of Rome. The Abbey of Cluny in the East of France would wield a lot of authority within the Catholic Church of the time.

Catholic Reform

The Vatican plays a prominent role in this book, as is befitting for a book on the Middle Ages with a religious motif. Rome had fallen on hard times after the implosion of the Roman Empire in 476. The city shrunk to a fraction of its original size, yet the Bishop of Rome remained where he was and sat out the storm. A vast area of Europe would convert, starting with the Franks, and through Charlemagne would spread to Germany.

In the 10th and 11th centuries, the Catholic Church would go through a restructuring/reformation that makes it recognizable to this day. The College of Cardinals that chooses the next Pope and is busy with affairs of state is instituted in its 'modern' form. Also, the clamor for the priesthood to become celibate starts at this time. Before then, priests were married, a practice that would find a resurgence under Protestantism 500 years later.

Also, there was the decades-long conflict between the Pope and the German Emperor (of the Holy Roman Empire) over investiture. Investiture means the ability to appoint bishops, priests etc. to their respective places. The Emperor and the Pope both coveted this power, to use it for their own gain. In this, the Church would be the victor in the late 11th century, though this history is quite convoluted.

The story also veers away to Constantinople, where the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) would fall on hard times. The invasion of the Seldjuk Turks and the horrendous defeat at Manzikert in 1071 would mean the loss of a vast swath of Anatolia (now known as Turkey), and the Byzantines would never really recover.

Also mentioned are the Vikings, both Danes and Norwegian, and their offshoot in Kiev (the Kievan Rus). Internal politics of Germany receive a lot of attention, as does the invasions of the Hungarians in the 10th century. The Hungarians would convert after their king, Steven (Istvan), converted to Christianity in the year 1000.

Conclusion

Since the book swerves so radically from place to place to keep the chronological order somewhat intact, it can be somewhat jarring read. Sometimes it became hard to keep up, especially if you're completely unfamiliar with a certain part of a certain history.

Yet the book serves as an excellent introduction to the European Middle Ages. The subtitle of the book is excellent 'a blaze of colour lights up the Dark Ages'. I've hated the term 'Dark Ages' for a while now. It was coined by the French Enlightenment (light) philosophers to besmirch this era, because the people were religious/traditionally minded, etc., which was the opposite of how men like Voltaire and Rousseau wanted to see society become.

It's a lesson everyone has to learn at some point; that history should not be viewed through a modern political/societal lens, or should be judged through modern (mostly Western liberal) criteria. To quote Leopold von Ranke; 'geschichte ist kein kriminalgericht', which means 'history is not a criminal court', i.e it is not for us to judge it after the fact. I could not agree more with that sentiment.

Anyways, that's it for this review. I hope to see you all in a next installment. Perhaps soon I'll write one for Tom Holland's other books, of which I now have four in total, and I consider this the worst one of those, frankly. I'll see you all in the next one,

-Pieter Nijmeijer

(Top image: self-made photo of book cover)