It cannot but seem a paradox to say that the Thirteenth was the greatest of centuries. To most people the idea will appear at once so preposterous that they may not even care to consider it. A certain number, of course, will have their curiosity piqued by the thought that anyone should evolve so curious a notion. Either of these attitudes of mind will yield at once to a more properly receptive mood if it is recalled that the Thirteenth is the century of the Gothic cathedrals, of the foundation of the university, of the signing of Magna Charta, and of the origin of representative government with something like constitutional guarantees throughout the west of Europe. The cathedrals represent a development in the arts that has probably never been equaled either before or since. The university was a definite creation of these generations that has lived and maintained its usefulness practically in the same form in which it was then cast for the seven centuries ever since. The foundation stones of modern liberties are to be found in the documents which for the first time declared the rights of man during this precious period.

Latest episodes of the podcast Thirteenth: Greatest of Centuries by James Joseph Walsh

• 01 - INTRODUCTION, THE THIRTEENTH, THE GREATEST OF CENTURIES
• 02 - UNIVERSITIES AND PREPARATORY SCHOOLS
• 03 - WHAT AND HOW THEY STUDIED AT THE UNIVERSITIES
• 04 - THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS AND DISCIPLINE
• 05 - POST-GRADUATE WORK AT THE UNIVERSITIES
• 06 - THE BOOK OF THE ARTS AND POPULAR EDUCATION
• 07 - ARTS AND CRAFTS—GREAT TECHNICAL SCHOOLS
• 08 - GREAT ORIGINS IN PAINTING
• 09 - LIBRARIES AND BOOKMEN
• 10 - THE CID, THE HOLY GRAIL, THE NIBELUNGEN
• 11 - MEISTERSINGERS, MINNESINGERS, TROUVÈRES, TROUBADOURS
• 12 - GREAT LATIN HYMNS
• 13 - THE THREE MOST READ BOOKS
• 14 - SOME THIRTEENTH CENTURY PROSE
• 15 - ORIGIN OF DRAMA
• 16 - FRANCIS, THE SAINT—THE FATHER OF THE RENAISSANCE
• 17 - AQUINAS, THE SCHOLAR
• 18 - LOUIS, THE MONARCH
• 19 - DANTE, THE POET
• 20 - THE WOMEN OF THE CENTURY
• 21 - CITY HOSPITALS—ORGANIZED CHARITY
• 22 - GREAT ORIGINS IN LAW
• 23 - JUSTICE AND LEGAL DEVELOPMENT
• 24 - DEMOCRACY, CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM AND NATIONALITY
• 25 - GREAT EXPLORERS AND THE FOUNDATION OF GEOGRAPHY
• 26 - GREAT BEGINNINGS OF MODERN COMMERCE
• 27 - 14 CHAPTERS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN