The word "medieval" conjures images of the "Dark Ages," centuries of ignorance, superstition, stagnation, brutality, and nonexistent hygiene. However, the myth of darkness obscures the truth. This book "restores" the European Middle Ages and approaches this period, spanning from the fifth to the fourteenth century, in all its complexity and inherent humanity, illuminating both its beauty and its horrors.

The Illuminated Ages take us on a journey through ten centuries, crossing Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, presenting well-known figures and events in a new light. We see the fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death from a fresh perspective, as well as the multi-religious experience of the Iberian Peninsula, the rise of Byzantium, the genius of Hildegard, and the power held by various queens.

The Illuminated Ages begin under the golden stars created by an empress of German, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian heritage and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante writing, inspired by this shimmering celestial dome, an epic about Heaven and Hell that endures today as a literary masterpiece.

The Illuminated Ages remind us how permeable the borders created by humans are and how many potential worlds the past always encloses for us. The Middle Ages may have been a world "illuminated only by fire," but it was a world whose torches lit up the magnificent stained glass of cathedrals, even if they came from the pyre for heretics.

"The Illuminated Ages shed light on an era often obscured by myth, legend, and prejudice. Spanning a thousand years of history, the Illuminated Ages remind us that societies did not collapse with the fall of the Roman Empire nor did the modern world awaken culturally after a thousand years of hibernation." Mike Duncan, author of Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution.

"The Illuminated Ages present a vivid, inspired new perspective on the medieval world. An outstanding work in every respect, clear in its arguments and splendid in its style." Bruce Holsinger, author of A Burnable Book and Gifted School.

"The captivating new history of the Middle Ages is a tour de force!" Candida Moss, author of The Myth of Persecution.