The Middle Ages represented a flowering of spirituality and culture which, in Europe, has not been equalled since. This book examines some of the great writers and thinkers of the period and the events in which they took part. A wide-ranging introduction considers the enduring fascination with the Middle Ages - evident today in New Age philosophies - and is followed by discussion of the cult of relics and the growth of pilgrimage which led to the building of magnificent churches throughout Europe. The author then considers challenges to the Established Church, and also recounts the tale of Dante and of his work, The Divine Comedy - an epic of space travel which is in many ways a summary of late-medieval thinking.