A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century

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 exploredI 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.

One of the best history books I’ve ever read. Tuchman starts off, great historian that she was, pointing out how conflicting and exaggerating medieval sources can be, and even introduces “Tuchmans Law” (pronounced tuck-men) which basically states that bad news is repeated and spread so much that it multiplies the seeming presence of bad things in life to the point you would think nothing good ever happens (just like watching the evening news). A Distant Mirror is actually a biography of a nobleman named Enguerrand de Coucy VII (pronounced On-geh-hon-de-koo-see). She briefly covers his ancestors as some of them absolutely butchered peasants and barons in their domain while some built the great castle of Coucy in Picardy, France. She spends the first several chapters setting the stage for Enguerrand’s life. The “little ice age” that kicked off the century with some mass starvation. Chivalry and romance, with the knights who were mostly hypocrites and brigands, and women who had minimal say in life. War, how it was all about “the fight” and “the glory”, not even about good strategy. Youth, and how children were basically just treated like little adults, meaning they didn’t have an idea of “childhood” like we have today where it’s a very special time of life, separate and distinct, and deserving special attention. Again, she points out contradictions from her research (“children are neglected and children are loved”). And of course, she covers a long and excellent chapter on the Black Death (which was originally her main goal for the book, but being the good historian that she was, she figured out it was more than the plague that ruined the 1300’s and so expanded the scope of her research)! Here are the Flagellants, whipping themselves through the streets, announcing Gods judgment through “the pestilence,” only to quickly blame the Jews for poisoning the wells and turning whole towns against them! Here are people hanging out next to the “privies” thinking they’ll avoid the plague that way. Tuchman is so accurate, she even points out that the statistic about 1/3 of the population dying from plague didn’t come from anyone actually counting the dead, it came from the book of Revelation! It was a way of life for intellectuals and scholars back then to use scripture and ancient literature to interpret events (doctors read Galen instead of just actually looking at what was wrong with their patients). And just when I thought I couldn’t get more enthralled, we actually begin the life of Enguerrand de Coucy VII. We are with him when he’s captured at the battle of Poitiers. With him when he’s taken hostage and shipped to England (likely in the same group with Geoffrey Chaucer!), when he marries the kings daughter, when he goes on a crusade...won’t spoil anything for you. There is the peasants revolt or “Jacquerie uprising.” There is John Wycliffe becoming buddies with, of all people, John of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster) because they both want the state to be over the church, not the church over the state as it then was. Here is King Charles the VI of France being followed through the forest of Mans by a strange, ragged man saying, “Ride no further, noble King! Turn back! You are betrayed!” which leads him to have a psychotic snap upon exiting the forest, killing some of his own knights. And that’s just the beginning of his woes. Anyways...if you haven’t already read A Distant Mirror, I hope you will soon!

I was delighted to receive this book as a replacement for one I had loved for about 30 years. It gives an excellent view of the Middle Ages and, I believe should be required reading for all students. Barbara Tuchman is a great story teller who combines fact and fiction without condescension and compromising good writing. It is a modern classic.

Needed hard concentration but had to keep on to the end. Fascinating history and an "eye opener" on the lives of the people of that time. Even when whole populations were being wiped out by the plague the survivors were still forced into fighting in the wars.

An absolute bargain, timely delivered. Many thanks.

A fine piece of scholarly literature.

Gibbon claimed, that the Second Century AD was the best time to be alive. Well the 14th Century is probably the worst time period, anyone could have lived through. The 14th Century starts out with the Little Ice Age. The first half of the century produced poor harvests, due to the cold weather conditions. This led to wide spread famines throughout Europe. Tuchman begins her review, in the middle of the 14th Century. This is also when, the first wave of The Black Death starts hitting Europe. England and France will soon enter an era, of almost non-stop war. This conflict will later be called The Hundred Years War. In hindsight, we know that Europe was in a period of transition. The Medieval time frame is ending and The Renaissance is starting to take root. Periods of drastic change, always seem to produce large social upheavals. This book outlines many of the; disruptions, disasters, and revolutions, that took place in the 14th Century. There are also a number of interesting social aspects, regarding the Black Death. The reader can make comparisons with the current Corona Virus Pandemic of 2020. Barbara Tuchman is an outstanding writer of history. This book is highly recommended, to anyone that enjoys reading history.