Name: The Pursuit of the Millennium
ISBN: 9780195004564

Norman Cohn

This fascinating book explores the millenarianism that flourished in western Europe between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. Cohn covers the full range of revolutionary and anarchic sects and movements in medieval Europe.

Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages

The Pursuit of the Millennium

The Middle Ages inherited from Antiquity a tradition of prophesy and gave it fresh and exuberant life. This tradition foretold a Millennium in which humanity would enjoy a new Paradise on earth, free of suffering and sin - a Kingdom of the Saints. Generation after generation was intermittently seized by a tense expectation of some sudden, miraculous event in which the world would be utterly transformed. Often these expectations became enmeshed with social unrest, and when that happened movements arose which sent tremors through the massive structure of medieval society. Drawing on a huge variety of contemporary sources, this unique and compelling book tells the story of those Millenarian fanaticisms of the Middle Ages and points to their persistence in the modern world.'Important and original-haunting and significant.' Times Literary Supplement'Full of rich, fascinating scholarship-What a field he covers.' Hugh Trevor-Roper'It is a piece of great originality and power-It deserves study and emulation.' Isaiah Berlin

The Pursuit of the Millennium Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages

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