O hranicích dějinných období - Na příkladu středověku a renesance – Le Goff Jacques (2014)

In this final text that Jacques Le Goff (1924–2014) prepared for publication himself, the renowned medievalist examines the methodological principles of historical work, focusing particularly on the dividing line between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The Czech-language book asks what role the self-image of Renaissance figures should play in today’s understanding of the period they sought to define, where historical periodization began and how it developed once history became an academic discipline, when and how the still-popular image of the Middle Ages as a “Dark Age” emerged, and how historians should approach their work at a time when many prominent scholars question the need for global periodization. Le Goff defends the concept of a “long Middle Ages” extending from the third to the eighteenth century, associated with the cultural dominance of Latin and Christianity, as well as with social structures, forms of production, diet, transport and other features. He also argues that periodization remains a valuable tool for orientation and for seeking historical meaning in today’s globalized, polycentric world.