How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

[dominikus28]

Can anyone recommend any other books which refute common anti-Catholic historical myths, like how dark the dark ages were, that the Church is anti-science, that the Inquisition and Crusades were super bad…

I went to a philosophy lecturer today to ask a question about history of science and philosophy, and she mentioned that between the fall of Rome and the renaissance, in the Dark Ages, there was stagnation of philosophical and scientific thought. Thomas Woods pretty much refutes this in his book, “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” (which I recommend), but I am looking for multiple sources and especially books which aren’t so obviously pro-Catholic (My friend, who I am arguing with about how ‘bad’ the Church was will most likely just dismiss this as pro-catholic propaganda, so I’d rather get as many sources as possible).

I am also interested in details, such as hygiene and daily life in antiquity and middle ages and renaissance. My friend claims that hygiene was really bad during middle ages, and I don’t know how to prove it wasn’t.

This has some interesting facts, but unfortunately no sources:
listverse.com/2009/01/07/top-10-myths-about-the-middle-ages/
I like this kind of trivia or ‘fun facts’ which also show that the Church had a positive impact on society.

 

[Edward_H]

Can anyone recommend any other books which refute common anti-Catholic historical myths, like how dark the dark ages were, that the Church is anti-science, that the Inquisition and Crusades were super bad…

I went to a philosophy lecturer today to ask a question about history of science and philosophy, and she mentioned that between the fall of Rome and the renaissance, in the Dark Ages, there was stagnation of philosophical and scientific thought. Thomas Woods pretty much refutes this in his book, “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” (which I recommend), but I am looking for multiple sources and especially books which aren’t so obviously pro-Catholic (My friend, who I am arguing with about how ‘bad’ the Church was will most likely just dismiss this as pro-catholic propaganda, so I’d rather get as many sources as possible).

I am also interested in details, such as hygiene and daily life in antiquity and middle ages and renaissance. My friend claims that hygiene was really bad during middle ages, and I don’t know how to prove it wasn’t.

This has some interesting facts, but unfortunately no sources:
listverse.com/2009/01/07/top-10-myths-about-the-middle-ages/
I like this kind of trivia or ‘fun facts’ which also show that the Church had a positive impact on society.

I would scour Woods’s reference/citation list for your first wave search. Better hurry before organizations like the EU re-write the history of Europe.

 

[AnthonyPadua001]

Can anyone recommend any other books which refute common anti-Catholic historical myths, like how dark the dark ages were, that the Church is anti-science, that the Inquisition and Crusades were super bad…

I went to a philosophy lecturer today to ask a question about history of science and philosophy, and she mentioned that between the fall of Rome and the renaissance, in the Dark Ages, there was stagnation of philosophical and scientific thought. Thomas Woods pretty much refutes this in his book, “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” (which I recommend), but I am looking for multiple sources and especially books which aren’t so obviously pro-Catholic (My friend, who I am arguing with about how ‘bad’ the Church was will most likely just dismiss this as pro-catholic propaganda, so I’d rather get as many sources as possible).

I am also interested in details, such as hygiene and daily life in antiquity and middle ages and renaissance. My friend claims that hygiene was really bad during middle ages, and I don’t know how to prove it wasn’t.

This has some interesting facts, but unfortunately no sources:
listverse.com/2009/01/07/top-10-myths-about-the-middle-ages/
I like this kind of trivia or ‘fun facts’ which also show that the Church had a positive impact on society.

Just a few recommendations:

On the topic of the Crusades look into Jonathan Riley-Smith and Thomas Madden. They both have some great works on the topic.

If you are interested in looking into the history of the papacy, I’d recommend Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes by Eamon Duffy. This book provides valuable historical facts rather than mere unsupported claims.

I’ll keep this question in the back of my mind.