The Close of the Middle Ages, 1272-1494, 3rd Ed. — Context and Discussion

The Crusading Motif as a Barometer of Papal Authority

Lodge uses the crusading idea not as a religious phenomenon but as a political instrument. In the excerpt, Martin V attempts to revive the crusade against the Hussites, appointing a papal legate to lead armies. Lodge notes that “the crusading spirit was dead in Europe,” and Martin’s failure is measured by the Bohemians’ victories. The phrase “crusading spirit” recurs as a shorthand for papal influence: when it is alive, the papacy leads; when dead, popes are reduced to summoning councils. This motif appears again in Eugenius IV’s troubles, where his inability to rally support against the Council of Basel mirrors the earlier failure. Lodge does not moralize; he simply tracks the rise and fall of this rhetoric across decades.

The Council of Basel as a Structural Pivot

The Council of Basel (1431-1449) functions in the text as a fulcrum around which papal fortunes turn. Lodge shows how Eugenius IV, after initial defiance, is compelled to adopt “a humbler tone” toward the council, which conducts negotiations with the Bohemians “as if its authority completely superseded that of the Pope.” The council is not merely an ecclesiastical event; it is a political rival that forces the pope to seek allies in Venice and Florence. Lodge’s narrative moves from the council’s rise to Eugenius’s later attempts to counter it by convening a rival council at Ferrara and Florence. The structure here is dialectical: each papal move provokes a conciliar countermove, and the reader sees power shifting from Rome to Basel and back.

The Neapolitan Succession: A Web of Alliances

Lodge’s treatment of the Angevin-Aragonese war in Naples (1435-1442) exemplifies his method of tracing how local conflicts become European. The excerpt details how Alfonso V of Aragon, after being captured at Ponza, convinces Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan to abandon the papal alliance. Lodge writes that Alfonso “laid the foundations of a durable alliance between his own dynasty and the dukes of Milan.” The narrative moves swiftly from naval battle to prisoner interview to realignment of powers. Lodge highlights the papacy’s initial claim to Naples as a lapsed fief, then its abandonment of that claim in favor of supporting Réné of Anjou. The war is presented not as a single story but as a series of calculations by popes, princes, and barons.

Movement Between Scenes: From Rome to Florence to Naples

Lodge’s prose frequently shifts location within a single paragraph, creating a sense of simultaneous action. In the excerpt, Eugenius IV’s flight from Rome “in disguise” to Florence is followed immediately by the war in Naples. The reader moves from the pope’s domestic troubles to the Genoese fleet off Ponza, then to Alfonso’s interview with Visconti. Lodge uses no transitional phrases; the juxtaposition implies causation. This technique mirrors the series’ goal of presenting “general development” rather than isolated national histories. The effect is a narrative that feels both panoramic and tightly wound, where a defeat at sea can alter the balance of power in Italy and the papacy’s standing in Europe.

Readers approaching Lodge’s volume will benefit from attending to these structural patterns: the rise and fall of crusading language, the council as a rival authority, and the rapid scene changes that link local wars to broader shifts. The text rewards those who read across chapters, watching how a motif or alliance recurs. Lodge’s work is less a chronicle of events than an analysis of power in motion—always contingent, always negotiated.

Lodge’s volumes always carry that slow procession of papal bulls and crusading banners, moving between council chambers and battlefields as if time itself wore vestments. The old View of the State of Europe sits nearby on my shelf, and I’ve often caught them whispering to one another — two chroniclers sharing the same patient burden of kings and clergy, each waiting for the other to turn the page. View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 — Background and Themes holds that same quiet, unhurried breath.