The waning of the Middle Ages : a study of the forms of life, thought, and art in France and the Netherlands in the XIVth and XVth centuries

A study of the forms of life, thought and art in France and the Netherlands in the XIVth and XVth centuries This classic study of art, life, and thought in France and the Netherlands during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ranks as one of the most perceptive analyses of the medieval period. A brilliantly creative work that established the reputation of Dutch historian John Huizinga (1872-1945), the book argues that the era of diminishing chivalry reflected the spirit of an age and that its figures and events were neither a prelude to the Renaissance nor harbingers of a coming culture, but a consummation of the old. Among other topics, the author examines the violent tenor of medieval life, the idea of chivalry, the conventions of love, religious life, the vision of death, the symbolism that pervaded medieval life, and aesthetic sentiment. We view the late Middle Ages through the psychology and thought of artists, theologians, poets, court chroniclers, princes, and statesmen of the period, witnessing the splendor and simplicity of medieval life, its courtesy and cruelty, its idyllic vision of life, despair and mysticism, religious, artistic, and practical life, and much more. Long regarded as a landmark of historical scholarship, The Waning of the Middle Ages is also a remarkable work of literature. Of its author, the New York Times said, "Professor Huizinga has dressed his imposing and variegated assemblage of facts in the colorful garments characteristic of novels, and he parades them from his first page to the last in a vivid style." An international success following its original publication in 1919 and subsequently translated into several languages, The Waning of the Middle Ages will not only serve as an invaluable reference for students and scholars of medieval history but will also appeal to general readers and anyone fascinated by life during the Middle Ages. *Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen* is het bekendste werk van de historicus Johan Huizinga uit 1919. In het werk presenteert Huizinga het idee dat de overdreven formaliteit en romantiek van het laatmiddeleeuwse hofleven een verdedigingsmechanisme was tegen de toenemende verruwing van de maatschappij. Huizinga gebruikte voor Herfsttij kronieken en literatuur als bronnen en bewust geen archiefstukken. Zijn boek is, meer dan een kunsthistorische studie, een proeve van cultuur- en mentaliteitsgeschiedenis. Source: [Wikipedia](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herfsttij_der_Middeleeuwen) ---------- From the Preface of the English translation: The present work deals with the history of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries regarded as a period of termination, as the close of the Middle Ages. Such a view of them presented itself to the author of this volume, whilst endeavouring to arrive at a genuine understanding of the art of the brothers Van Eyck and their contemporaries, that is to say, to grasp its meaning by seeing it in connection with the entire life of their times. Now the common feature of the various manifestations of civilization of that epoch proved to be inherent rather in that which links them to the past than in the germs which they contain of the future. The significance, not of the artists alone, but also of theologians, poets, chroniclers, princes and statesmen, could be best appreciated by considering them, not as the harbingers of a coming culture, but as perfecting and concluding the old. This English edition is not a simple translation of the original Dutch (second edition 1921, first 1919), but the result of a work of adaptation, reduction and consolidation under the author's directions. The references, here left out, may be found in full in the original. The Violent Tenor of Life Pessimism and the Ideal of the Sublime Life The Hierarchic Conception of Society The Idea of Chivalry The Dream of Heroism and of Love Orders of Chivalry and Vows The Political and Military Value of Chivalrous Ideas Love formalized The Conventions of Love The Idyllic Vision of Life The Vision of Death Religious Thought crystallizing into Images Types of Religious Life Religious Sensibility and Religious Imagination Symbolism in its Decline The Effects of Realism Religious Thought beyond the Limits of Imagination The Forms of Thought and Practical Life Art and Life The Æsthetic Sentiment Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared. I Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared. II The Advent of the New Form Bibliography Index Brilliant study of art, life and thought in France and the Netherlands during the 14th and 15th centuries explores the period's splendor and simplicity; courtesy and cruelty; its idyllic vision of life; despair and mysticism; religious, artistic, and practical life; and much more. An international success following its original publication in 1919, this landmark of historical scholarship is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in medieval life. 14 illus.