preface

Part 1: The Age of the Vikings: The Dynamics of the Frontier: Where Destruction, Interchange, and Innovation Intersect

1 Vikings: Expanding the History of Medieval Europe
Heatherby, the Viking brokerage city
2 The Vikings' Eastward Expansion: Beyond Russia and the Byzantine Empire
The Viking culture that was created
3 Landed in America 500 years before Columbus
Greenland and the 'Collapse of Civilization'
From warriors to nobles, the birth of Normandy
Mont Saint-Michel Abbey
5 The Norman Conquest: A New Beginning in British History
Bayeux Tapestry
6 The Norman Dynasty: From Brutal Conquest to Tolerant Integration
Changes in English
7 Norman mercenaries establish the Kingdom of Sicily
Cappella Palatina in Palermo

Part 2: The Cross and the Crown: Heated Competition and New Developments in Performance

8. The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba: A "Jewel of the World" Where Two Civilizations Coexist
Ibn Zaydun and Walada
9 El Cid, the fictional hero of the reconquest movement
Santiago de Compostela
10. Heinrich the "Birdhunter" Opens the Way to Empire
Quedlinburg, a Nazi mecca
11 The Humiliation of Canossa, the Emperor's Plaster Sin, and Revenge
Matilda, the Italian Joan of Arc
12 The Papal Revolution: Preparing the Modern World with the Power of Law
Strengthening the confession
13 The Signal of the Crusades: "Tied the Christians' Intestines to Stakes..."
Song of Roland
14 The Boy's Crusade: A Strange Phenomenon in an Apocalyptic World
Duke of Bouillon, an exemplary crusader knight

Part 3 Power, Love, and Faith: Medieval Styles That Transcend Our Thoughts and Feelings

15 Eleanor of Aquitaine, Building a Kingdom and Opening the Way to Courtly Love
The Palace of Love
16 The end of the Plantagenet Empire and the most powerful king in Europe, Henry II
Richard the Lionheart
17 Are Kings Sacred in the 21st Century?
scrofula
18 The reign of the holy but cruel King Louis IX
Sainte-Chapelle
19 Gothic Cathedral, a sacred space led by the king
revolutionary destruction
20 Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, an 800-year-old stone house that creates an enchanting light and sound
Viollet-le-Duc
21 Santa Casa of Loreto, the church that protects freedom and liberation
Our Lady of Loreto

Part 4 The Medieval Mind: Anxiety and the Longing for Salvation

22 The plague, a medieval horror brought by caravans and trading ships
Prescription for the Plague
23 The plague brought a storm of doomsday fanaticism, and the witch hunts began.
Waldo, 'The Poor Man of Lyon'
24 The Home of Medieval Legends, Ghost Stories
Snowball Story
25. The Trial of the Holy Spirit: Asking God's Will to Detect Sin
The World's New Tribunal
26 From Sacred Poverty to Pure Wealth: Scholasticism Opened the Door to Capitalism
oppression of poverty
27 Mapa Mundi, a world drawn through a Christian worldview
Cheonhado, a world map created by Joseon

Part 5: A Journey to Modernity: The Cold-Blooded Power and the Scent of Art

28 Richard III, The White Rose that Bloomed in Hell's Battlefield
The king's remains
29 The Renaissance-era melodrama of Cesare and Lucrezia
Cesare praised by Machiavelli
The secret of the Medici murders revealed after 30,500 years
Another unsolved mystery involving the Medici family
31 Ivan the Terrible Creates a Sacred State Through Brutal Violence
St. Basil's Cathedral
32 Florence, the city of vibrant geniuses
Reasons to work in Florence
33 Michelangelo's Three Pietas Meditating on Light in Pain
Controversy Surrounding the 'Vatican Pieta'
34 Fra Mauro Map, Foreshadowing the Asian Voyage
Map of the Honil Gangni Station National Road

References
Image source and location

From Scandinavia to Central and Western Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and Russia
A 1,000-Year Journey to Meet Medieval People

Our journey through medieval Europe to meet medieval people begins in an unexpected place.
Rather than the usual central stages of European history, such as France, Italy, and Germany, we head to the "periphery"—the bloody but surprisingly innovative places, starting from Scandinavia, the home of the Vikings, and extending to Russia and Byzantium.
Next, we pass through the Iberian Peninsula, where Islam has been present for 800 years, and arrive at the heart of Western Europe, where crosses and crowns fight and holy knights march.
After wandering through palaces and monasteries, towns and streets where people love, fight for power, and pursue the divine, they pause for a moment in a tall, light-filled Gothic cathedral that embodies the ideal of heaven.
Leaving behind the tragic and bizarre scenes of medieval life in an age of war, famine, and disease, we conclude our 1,000-year journey, enjoying the thrilling emotions of culture and art that blossomed brilliantly amidst harsh politics and economic stagnation.


This five-part journey takes you across Europe, from the Viking Age through the fierce struggles of the castles, the Hundred Years' War and the plague, to the dawn of modernity.

The medieval man summoned by the modern age,
Medieval events that bring to mind today's issues

Historical figures are figures born from their time, but they are also figures demanded by another time.
In this book, there are quite a few medieval people who have been brought back to the modern era.


The history of medieval Germany is complex, with hundreds of political units large and small before its unification into the German Empire in the 19th century.
Why wouldn't there have been any ideals to overcome this chaos and unite Europe as a single unit?
This plan was realized as the Holy Roman Empire, which nominally enjoyed the highest authority in Europe, and the person who opened the way was Henry the Fowler.
In the mid-20th century, Heinrich is suddenly mobilized for Nazi propaganda.
Nazi Germany, which was at war with the Soviet Union, realized that this great king, a warrior who had annihilated the Slavs and an ancestor who had founded the German Empire, was very useful for Nazi propaganda, so they covered Quedlinburg, where Heinrich was buried, with swastikas and turned it into a Nazi shrine.


Meanwhile, in Spain, El Cid, who had been treated as a "liar" and a "dirty traitor" until the 19th century for fighting fellow Christian forces rather than Islamic forces, was resurrected as a national hero.
During the Spanish-American War, when the country was in decline, a hero was needed to restore the country's honor, and later dictator Franco portrayed himself as a second El Cid.
In addition, as nationalist sentiments erupted in the late 19th century, the people of Northern Europe summoned the Vikings to honor their brave ancestors who had roamed the world in the past in order to boost their national pride, and the ruler of "Grozny", nicknamed Ivan IV and known for his lightning-like, terrifying, and terrifying majesty, was surprisingly popular in Russia, unlike in other countries, and is still talked about today.


There are also stories here and there that touch on the issues we are concerned about today.
We look at war and pandemics from the perspective that crises do not lead to the total collapse of society, but rather are processes of seeking new change and development to find a way out of adversity.
The process of a scientific approach sprouting from the limitations of an era that demanded a deep abhorrence of one's sins, gathering as much repentance as possible, mixing it well with tears and applying a plaster; the process of a modern judicial system developing by overcoming the absurd problem of the divine trial; the ideological foundation that enabled the birth of capitalism from sacred poverty to clean wealth—these are the dark sides of the crisis, and we need to pay attention to these dark sides.
The fact that Florence's culture flourished most profusely at a time when economic prosperity had peaked, was in decline, and power struggles were ruthless, also reminds us of our own times.
The coronation of Charles III raises the question of whether kings are still sacred in the 21st century. The history of the Norman dynasty, which moved from brutal conquest to fusion, and the mosque-cathedral of Cordoba offer food for thought in this age of conflict between different civilizations.

Conveyed through 170 cut plates and maps
A beautiful and bizarre medieval landscape

We naturally encounter medieval Europe in the old castle walls we encounter while walking down the alleys of Europe, the cathedral spires in the heart of the city, the tapestries adorning the walls of museums, the rickety chronicles that breathe life into medieval history, the paintings, sculptures, and maps that still captivate us today, and even in OTT dramas and movies.
This book provides numerous visual aids to help us understand the Middle Ages that we have been encountering without even knowing it.
For example, the book introduces the stories of famous places that are considered tourist destinations for European travelers, such as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Santiago de Compostela, Mont Saint-Michel Abbey, Duomo Opera Museum, St. Basil's Cathedral, Santa Casa de Loreto, and Cappella Palatina in Palermo, without leaving out anything, and adds vividness with on-site photos.

He also actively used illustrations from various chronicles and medieval books to enable people to see his own appearance as it was portrayed by his contemporaries.
The multi-cut map provides a glimpse into the complex political landscape of medieval Europe.


Professor Joo Kyung-chul's writing style, which is a sophisticated refinement of history that makes it easily understandable to the general public and, above all, draws readers into the story with its well-honed writing skills, will be enriched by over 170 visual aids.