The Dawn of the Middle Ages: Books, Buttons, and Other Symbols of an Era That Changed the World

The Middle Ages were once considered the dark ages – a time of intellectual stagnation and brutal morals. In reality, it was a time of extraordinary cultural innovations and technological advancements. The outstanding medieval historian Chiara Frugoni invites us on an amazing journey through the roads of the Middle Ages, to all those things and ideas that emerged during this era and are of utmost importance to us today. Thanks to the Middle Ages, we acquired glasses, books, trousers, tarot cards, mills, and dining tables, and our hearth welcomed a cat. The very time turned out to be tamed and encapsulated in the form of a clock with a trigger mechanism.
«From glasses to the compass, from buttons to the university – Chiara Frugoni's brilliant work offers us a portrait of an era that was far from dark and distant from progress: this era was marked by vital inventions» (Jacques Le Goff).