The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780815628262)

Beyond the boundaries of the known Christian world during the Middle Ages, there were alien cultures that intrigued, puzzled, and sometimes frightened the people of Europe. The reports of travelers in Africa and Asia revealed that "monstrous" races of men lived there, whose appearance and customs were quite different from the European norm. This book examines the impact of these races upon Western art, literature, and philosophy, from their earliest mention until the age of exploration.

Friedman furnishes a descriptive catalog of the races, most of which were real, geographically remote peoples, some of which were fabled creatures that served as symbols. He traces the evolution of European attitudes toward them, with particular emphasis on the high Middle Ages, when they seem most strongly to have captured the Western imagination. Ranging through literature, the arts, cartography, canon law, and theology, he considers the widely varying ways in which Christians viewed and depicted strange races of men.

Finally, he examines transformations in European consciousness brought about by the discoveries of the exotic peoples of the Americas. Whatever their form--pygmy, giant, hirsute cave--dweller, cyclops, or Amazon-the
monstrous races clearly challenged the traditional concept of man in the Christian world scheme. It is the medieval thinking about this challenge that Mr. Friedman addresses in this revealing account.

Author: John Block Friedman
ISBN-10: 0815628269
ISBN-13: 9780815628262
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/01/2000
Pages: 324
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.01lbs
Size: 8.96h x 6.03w x 0.72d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2000 pg. 49