C. Stephen Jaeger, Medieval Humanism: Collected Essays (Italica Press, 2024)
These collected essays, some first published here, summarize the past fifty years of C. Stephen Jaeger’s work and thought. Its introduction, revisions, and updates also incorporate other scholars’ research over the past half-century to produce a fresh reinvisioning of European cultural history from 950 to 1150. Jaeger argues that this period was shaped by the emerging humanism of the early cathedral schools that proliferated from the second half of the tenth century and through educational innovations closely tied to the rule of Emperor Otto the Great. This humanism was characterized by the fusion of ancient Roman philosophy and ethical ideals with Christian teachings. Its influence in ecclesiastical and imperial administration was as profound as in philosophy, literary style, and social mores, influencing the poetry, art, architecture, philosophy, and moral teaching of the age.