Reviews

Paris, 1200 by John Baldwin

siria's review

4.0

Strictly speaking, this is Paris, 1190-1210, but Paris, 1200 is admittedly a much catchier title. This is the kind of book that you can only write after a lifetime of study, and the late John Baldwin knew this time and place better than just about anyone else. He brings us back to a time when Notre-Dame was unfinished, the Sorbonne not yet formally established, the great expansion of French territory at the expense of the Angevins not fully underway: a Paris that's perhaps just on the cusp of becoming familiar to a modern audience. Baldwin writes with affection and knowledge of everything from daily life to developments in government to scholastic life. There were chapters I found less engaging than others, but that's a matter of personal preference/interest in certain topics. This is the best 250-page introduction to the world of medieval Paris that you're going to get.