Mateas 1 Book Report: A World Lit Only by Fire by William Manchester A World Lit Only by Fire by William Manchester

tells the history of Europe from the sack of Rome by the Visigoths to the first voyage around the world by Magellan(s crew) through three main sections: The Medieval Mind, The Shattering, and One Man Alone. The Medieval mind begins with sack of Rome which resulted in a loss of the many services that had been available under the Roman Empire such as well-kept roads and protection through the Roman Army, which resulted in safe travel and trade, and plumbing which helped keep disease from entering the Roman cities. Because trade was no longer safe and city living no longer practical, Europeans retreated into communities dependent on farming which were easily conquered by anyone with an army, as a result monarchies were soon established throughout most of Europe and society became feudal out of the peasants need for protection. In order to further unite their people, most monarchs accepted Christianity and became Catholic and had the people they conquered do the same. As a result, a new figure of ultimate power emerges who for centuries to come would keep a hold on every aspect of European life and society; the Pope who got his power from God which made it hard for people to criticize it as corruption infiltrated the Church over the next few centuries. The Shattering follows the emergence of Europe from a medieval society primarily dominated by agriculture to a society where the arts and education begin to develop and prosper in many cities throughout Europe as the Renaissance emerges. The Renaissance leads into the Reformation when Pope Leo X used indulgences as a means of getting money for the continued construction of St. Peters Basilica in Rome (and for the continuing of his lavish lifestyle) for which he gets criticized in the form of the 95 Theses by Martin Luther which began the Reformation that chipped at the power of the church. One Man Alone follows the story of Magellan and the great but difficult voyage around the world. The main idea of A World Lit Only by Fire becomes quite evident in the last section of the book when Manchester tells about all the hardships that Magellan had to endure alone in order to complete the voyage. History is filled with people who decided to stick up for something that they held to be true and go against the masses or the authorities because they knew that they couldnt go against their beliefs and morals. Because of the few who decide to stand up, they help better the world for future generations. This book is almost like a thank-you note written to the people who helped transform society so that today humans dont have to live in the fear and the misery that had once engulfed Europe. Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese nobleman who was inspired by the stories of the heroes of his time from both the mythical tales of men like King Arthur to the very real ones such as the voyages of Columbus. Combining the idea of a round world with the talks he had with the many explorers who had visited the Spice Islands; Magellan decided that there must be a way to circumnavigate the Earth and reach the islands by another route. When the time came to get sponsors for his voyage, Magellan went to the Spanish who were looking to get the Spice Islands into their hands and put an end Portuguese monopoly. When the Portuguese heard of Magellans voyage, they tried as hard as they could to sabotage the voyage by using anything they could come up withfrom spreading gossip to sending ships to meet Magellan in his voyage. Magellan had to learn to deal with the problems that were created. When the Portuguese consul spread rumors that the voyage was extremely dangerous and that the ships were unseaworthy, only desperate men signed up. Magellan did not discriminate against who joined (he even allowed Portuguesethe enemies of Spainto join) and did the best he could with

Mateas 2 communication barriers. He also disregarded the vicious rumors which were spread about himself and his fellow captains. Magellan proved to be a patient man when he encountered countless problems with his orders and annulment of promised funds. He proved to be wise when he decided not to disclose his plans with anyone aboard the five ships he was in charge of as to make sure that no one attempted to kill him if there was to be a mutiny. When he finally reached the bay of Rio de la Plata, what he believed to be a strait leading to the Pacific Ocean, he realized that he had been wrong and his promises to the king had been false. He decided to keep quiet about his realization and to keep on searching for the route to the Spice Islands. Magellan proved to be cunning when some of his crew and captains mutinied; he decided to set up a trap to recapture his ship by sending a small boat with a letter to distract the men from a much bigger and very well armed boat. Magellan portrayed many of the qualities of the heroes which he admired. His decisions proved that he was courageous, wise, and at times very, very optimistic. Magellans hope of finding a route to the Spice Island never faltered; he was able to look towards a glorious future when the present was filled with the fear of death. Magellan kept his ground through attempted mutinies and endured harsh conditions in order to keep his promise of reaching the Spice Islands and even though he never made it back to Spain, his crew was able to finish the last leg of the journey and tell of their amazing voyage. If history could be represented by falling dominoes, the Reformation would be a domino as big as a door. It would be hard for a small domino to knock a door but luckily, Martin Luther was the little domino that could. A couple centuries before Luther Unam Sanctam was published, a papal bull which stated that the pope/church gets its power from God and therefore is unable to become corrupt because God is sinless. By Luthers time the Catholic Church had become extremely corrupt with people buying their way into high offices, nepotism, lavish parties, excessive spending, and even a few cases of Popes fathering children. Who would stand up against Gods power on Earth? Not many had the courage to face the church (and their more than often Catholic monarch) during the heights of their power. Luther knew that what was going on in the church was sin and he used what he believed to be the ultimate authority on that; the Bible. The day which he posed his 95 Theses on the church door, he was alone. He was also made to stand alone and recant before the Diet of Worms on April 18, 1521 but he chose to remain true to what he believed and held to be right: I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Its easier to start something when there are people that support the same cause, but Luther didnt have that at the beginning. Luther also faced great danger when he decided to tell his ideas to the world; the likelihood that he would be captured by the Inquisition and face death for his heresies against the Catholic Church was quite big. In the end, because he chose not to give up, people slowly joined him and over time the church lost the power from the masses. Through the weakening of the power of the Catholic Church, society was able to flourish in a way that would have been impossible under the censorship of works and the constant loom of the Inquisition over the lives of Europeans. Its amazing that one person can start a movement that will change the future for millions of people. I would give A World Lit Only by Fire two stars; I didnt really enjoy it. Although the book is very informative and a very good read for anyone interested in learning more about European history, its quite dry. There were some interesting parts such as the very beginning of the book with the amusing tales of Medieval rulers and also the account of the corruption within the papacy (quite scandalous!), but other than that I felt like I was eating a bag of saltines. The

Mateas 3 reason why the book didnt get three stars from me is because of three words: One Man Alone aka Magellans voyage. I had to set up a reward system for myself so that I could get through that part (one sesame snack per 5 pages), I guess it might interest some people, but I really dislike books with sailing/voyages on the sea. The main reason why I gave the book two stars instead of one is because it did a good job of connecting many major events and filling in gaps or answering questions which were left unsolved by the textbook. It was pretty cool seeing all the events lead to one another and realizing that most of them didnt just come out of nowhere. There was definitely a flashing light bulb moment when I realized how interconnected the Renaissance and the Reformation were. I would recommend the book to anyone taking a European history based class because it does go in depth and it makes it easier to understand the causes of certain events which are critical in understanding the development of European civilization. I wouldnt recommend it to anyone looking for a choice read; it takes some real Magellan/Luther-type determination to get through this book and since it doesnt include anything about sparkly vampires or the walking dead, I dont think it would interest most of my peers.