After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today. On visits to the great cities of Europe--monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable Florence of Dante and Giotto--Cahill captures the spirit of experimentation, the colorful pageantry, and the passionate pursuit of knowledge that built the foundations for the modern world.--From publisher description.

A Chaucerian invitation -- Alexandria: city of reason : the great confluence -- Rome: crossroads of the world : how the Romans become the Italians -- Bingen & Chartres, gardens enclosed : the cult of the virgin and its consequences -- Aquitaine & Assisi, courts of love : the pursuit of love and its consequences -- Entrances to other worlds : the Mediterranean, the Orient, and the Atlantic -- Paris, university of heavenly things : the exaltation of reason and its consequences -- Oxford, university of earthly things : the alchemists quest and its consequences -- Padua, chapel of flesh : the artist's experiment and its consequences -- Florence, dome of light : the poet's dream and its consequences -- Ravenna, city of death : the politician's emptiness and its consequences -- Love in the ruins : a Dantesque reflection.