I so thoroughly enjoyed Danny Danziger & Robert Lacey’s The Year 1000, I read the (sort of) follow up, 1215: The Year of Magna Carta by Danziger and John Gillingham. It isn’t so much about the Magna Carta as it is about life in England during that time including the events that led to the rebellion against the intolerable King John and his signing of the Magna Carta despite the fact that the pope quickly deemed it unholy.
Like The Year 1000, 1215 is a popular history offering an overview of a complex society in a time of profound change, the period in which England became less French and more English. The authors (whose introduction blames any mistakes on each other) sacrifice depth for breadth and cover education, religion, warfare, forest law, trial by ordeal, the crusades, castles and a staggering number of other topics, always coming back to what the Magna Carta reveals about the thinking of the times.
Much is written also about the kings of the years leading up to 1215, particularly Henry II and Richard the Lionhearted, the immediate successors to King John. It is John’s errors and villainy, however, that led to Magna Carta, and I found it interesting how the writers managed to tie every one of their subjects into the larger issues of the day, leading ultimately to Runnymede.
I find it wonderfully exciting, suddenly diving back into European history, a subject I have given less attention than deserved since finishing the required courses in college. For years, the history I read was either modern or concerned itself with ancient America. Now, I find there is much I didn’t know, and much that I had forgotten (what a great thing to be reminded of knowledge I’d thought lost in the nooks and crannies of my mind!)
I am also surprised by how much I did know, though without context, the filing system that is my mind had treated history as scraps of paper full of interesting information scattered across a desk that hadn’t seen a clean in years. Creating narrative cleans the desk.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
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