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Book Length: 452 pages

There is a grave need in our time for a true understanding of history. Inherent to the teaching of history is the passing down of a worldview—even the secularist public school system, which clings so dearly to its sophistic notions of pluralism and objectivity is witness to this. For among those who have been “educated” by such systems, how many can say that their history teachers enlightened them to the vices of Martin Luther, or the advocacy of Pope Leo XIII in favor of the working classes oppressed by the greed of the industrial robber barons? None, most likely. Such omissions are by design; the teachers themselves are often taught the humanistic narrative of history without even realizing how empty this narrative is. There is simply no great “story” in their “history”. These misguided souls have lost the teleology of history, though they desperately try to reclaim it by hinging the story of the mankind to Liberal-Marxist ideas of history as an “inevitable” progression of revolutions. And like the philosophy of history proposed by Marx, the Liberal-Marxist history is a materialist one, removing God from what is ultimately His story. Thus this noble science becomes a vehicle for Leftist political activism, and a reduction to the memorization of mere dates and names.

The Catholic conception of history appreciates and considers the role of Providence in the creation and governance of the world, because it is primarily concerned with the relationship between mankind and divine revelation. This revelation was given to man, in time, by the Eternal God, who stands outside of time—indeed, the author of time itself. This conception therefore possesses a true sense of destiny, and because it refers to God as our beginning and indeed our end, whom we will enjoy forever if we persevere in righteousness. History is thus redeemed from being a trivia of facts about long-gone rulers, antecedent cultures and languages, to being something redemptive. In this light, it furnishes for us examples for the imitation of good and the avoidance of evil, as well as the vital context to the vale of tears in which we must work out our salvation. Fr. Anthony Guggenberger’s first volume of his A General History of the Christian Era is an excellent textbook, informed by an authentically Catholic sense of history, to enlighten the men of our time about the history from which the present powers wish to separate us from entirely.

As Fr. Guggenberger’s work is focused in relating the history of the Christian Era, he gives the reader a cursory history of pre-Christian Antiquity. His main focus is therefore in narrating a detailed recounting of that vast span of time which begins with the first invasions of the Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire (375 AD) and terminates with the death of Pope Boniface VIII (1303 AD). With a near thousand year scope, it is simply impressive how the author manages to convey the different periods and peoples he covers from chapter to chapter. He is concise in this task, yet capable of detailing the processes and events at work in various countries in a highly informative manner. At the end of each chapter, he also provides a listing of books for further consultation, thus inviting the curiosity of the reader to discover more for themselves.

One of the excellent advantages of this textbook to any modern history textbook is that, as a result of the sound mind of its author and the year of its publication—1900 to be exact—there is no inkling of politically correct nonsense which so often litters those textbooks. In fact, one finds quite the opposite within these pages, as this excerpt indicates:¹

Near Chalons-sur-Marne, on the Catalaunian Fields the terrible Battle of Nations was fought from noon to night, one of the most important battles in the history of the world, for it saved Christianity and Aryan civilization from being destroyed by Turanian heathenism and barbarity…

(60-61)

Not only would the usage of “Aryan civilization” make the Liberal-Marxist historian recoil in disgust, but also the apparent value judgment the author makes in stating that this civilization—also known as Western civilization—and the Faith that guided it was superior to the “heathenism and barbarity” of the Asiatic Huns. But this is the truth of the matter—for if the youthful Christendom had been killed in its crib by Attila’s hordes, there would have been a terrible vacuum like that of the ominously obscure Bronze Age Collapse. The future of the European peoples, as well as the other races of man, was thus spared a massive calamity by the victory of the Roman-Germanic armies on that fateful day. The fearless expression, therefore, of language and narrative devoid of Newspeak in this work is a profoundly relieving feature for those who wish to learn and pass down the truths of history.

Returning once more to the subject of the title of this work, it is not surprising that Fr. Guggenberger devotes much attention to the rise of Charlemagne, the reconstruction of Europe which his Empire produced, and the progress of that Empire in succeeding periods. Among other things, he writes of the saintly emperor that:

To him Providence had assigned the task of consolidating the best results of the migration of nations, and of welding its many discordant elements into a strong Christian commonwealth. Seldom has the world seen a king more fitted by nature for ruling men than Charles the Great, and seldom has a born ruler found similar opportunity for displaying such powers.

(142)

The author does indeed mention the faults of this ruler; yet accurately he illustrates—as he does here—that this man did exponentially more good than evil in the world, and moreover that Charlemagne was a deeply pious ruler. That his spiritual life undoubtedly informed and brought out the best in this man was not lost on Fr. Guggenberger, though such a detail is lost in the recounting of the emperor’s life by many a secular historian.

How rightly has Charles the Great been named the Father of Europe! This defender of her civilization was also an earnest defender of her Faith; and like Abraham of old, he may rightly be termed a father of many nations. For his realm contained the seeds of many nations, and the growing of these seeds from the “happy fault” of the Carolingian Empire’s collapse to their more recognizable forms is extensively detailed by the author of this history. While reading the chapters which describe the aftermath of this collapse, the reader follows Fr. Guggenberger on a fascinating journey as one travels with him seamlessly to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and back again, witnessing with him the growth of centuries. This is, however, not to indicate that only the listed nations are the sole interest of these chapters, or even the rest of this work; for among others, England, the Eastern Romans, and the Arabs are all given ample coverage as well, though the nations of Western Europe receive a sensible focus.

Another facet of this volume particularly worthy of mention is its explanation of the feudal system. Both the good and bad elements of it are dissected here, for it was paramount to the author of this work to relate the truth about the past, which is not found in overly romantic portraits nor cynical deconstructions. Ultimately, as Fr. Guggenberger explains in a section dedicated to this topic in Chapter III of Book III, feudalism was a positive system which laid the groundwork for the foundation and preservation of European civilization. Moreover, the author inevitably makes some comparison of feudal society to the relatively novel and emerging industrial society of his time, and as a result of this he makes some astute remarks which should particularly intrigue modern readers. For instance, he introduces his study of this often misunderstood system in the following terms:

Feudalism, the “graduated system of jurisdiction based on land tenure in which every lord” protected, “judged, commanded, and taxed the class below him,” was strongly developed by fiefs becoming hereditary. Since land, not money, was the chief wealth of all these ages, fiefs were the ordinary rewards for services done or expected. Hence the necessity and general extension of feudalism. The condemnation of the feudal system, which the revolutionary school of the eighteenth century has rendered fashionable, is absurd. What by a total change of circumstances would be impossible now, was necessary in the Middle Ages. It educated the new Teutonic nationalities by a discipline rude enough, but on the whole salutary. Guided by religion it was the instrument of the slow, but sure, elevation of the lower classes.

(404-405)

Evidently another collapse of Western civilization would have seemed as impossible to this author as it seems inevitable to us today. The West, it must be admitted, was far healthier in that time than it is now, and what must have appeared reversible by a peaceful conversion to the old ways of Christendom only appears reversible by those maluses embodied by the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. As those that survive these horrors will, as in the cases of other civilizational collapses, lack much of the prior institutional and infrastructural aids that made the former way of life possible, a system which organizes society on the basis of land wealth rather than salary wealth will be necessary. Thus, feudalism may experience a return, even in our lifetime, as men rebuild a world torn apart by pride and hatred in the wake of the prophesied Great Chastisement under the loving gaze of the Holy Virgin.

Narrowing in on the primary economic difference of that system to the capitalist system of his time and ours, he writes these words concerning the social benefits of founding wealth upon property rather than money ownership:

Society in general derived a great advantage from the fact that aristocracy was founded on land. For territorial property, which does not change, preserves the institutions and manners of a people better than industrial property. The hereditary principle furthered still more the stability and continuity of institutions, and rendered progress possible.

(406)

This explains in large part of the organic nature of that society, and why the present elites are so concerned with demonizing it. For their system of money ownership has encouraged the dream of cosmopolitanism far more than it could ever have been in the Middle Ages, even by the most idealistic of its later enthusiasts. But in making this “dream” accessible not only to the wealthy, who care only for that place where their greed can be the most satisfied, but also to the middle and even lower classes, they have revealed this grand vision to be a nightmare. They talk much of how the technology of our time has made people more connected than they were before, through affordable air travel and the highways of the Internet; yet the developed nations show numerous signs of lowered social trust and a crisis of loneliness, hardly symptoms of a “connected” world civilization. The hereditary principle did not chain us; it united us to our ancestors and provided stability for all, especially the youth, who under the present system are so often encouraged to move around from place to place in search of work. Revealed here, then, are other reasons why one must learn from the truths of the past—to learn how the reorientation of modern man to Christ the King is to be achieved, and not to be deluded that social atomization and usury are irrevocable.

In light of the many excellent things brought to light by this volume, it contains some minor flaws which ought to be kept in mind. The various charts of dynasties given throughout the chapters of this book are indeed helpful, but surprisingly there is an unfortunate lack of any maps, which would surely have aided the reader. Graver than this is his treatment of the Byzantine Empire, which was too harsh in the opinion of the reviewer; it seems to me that he has more positive things to write about the pagan Roman Empire than the Christian Eastern Roman Empire. Perhaps he may be more readily forgiven on this point, given the tendency of historical scholarship in his time—and even our own—to color that Empire as overly despotic and backwards. Additionally, he gives credence to the so-called “Children’s Crusade”, not to use this event to attack the Church as many authors have done, but rather to defend her against accusations of deliberately manipulating these youths. Readers should know that this purported event has been found to be entirely fictitious by competent medieval scholars of our time.²

Despite these faults, this volume remains an excellent resource for discovering the early history of Christendom and is highly recommended reading for all Catholics. Entirely in agreement with the mind of the Church, it is devoid of the senseless resentment which unfortunately colors the works of many modern historians and thus will be sure to enlighten all those fortunate enough to read it. It is a magnificent vista of history, for it touches not only on political and religious developments, but also the cultural, philosophical, and economic conditions of the periods it documents.

1. 
   For context, Fr. Guggenberger in his Introduction defines the Aryans as synonymous with Indo-Europeans and Turanians as being those peoples “…that are neither Aryan nor Semitic whether they descended from a common stock or not, whatever the distinctions may be among themselves.” (9)

2. See for reference this video by Stephen Roberts, entitled “The Children’s Crusade never happened.”

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR6Jz7JwNX0.