Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages

Bumke, Joachim; Thomas Dunlap, trans

ISBN 10: 0520066340 / ISBN 13: 9780520066342

Published by University of California Press, 1991

About this Item

Hardcover with dust jacket. Ex-Libris with usual library matter and stamps to upper, lower, and outer edges of text. Dust jacket in mylar. Slight wear on upper and lower edges of text. Otherwise VG 770 pp. Seller Inventory # 742436

Bibliographic Details

Title: Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in ...

Publisher: University of California Press

Publication Date: 1991

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis:

Every aspect of "courtly culture" comes to life in Joachim Bumke's extraordinarily rich and well-documented presentation. A renowned medievalist with an encyclopedic knowledge of original sources and a passion for history, Bumke overlooks no detail, from the material realities of aristocratic society -- the castles and clothing, weapons and transportation, food, drink, and table etiquette -- to the behavior prescribed and practiced at tournaments, knighting ceremonies, and great princely feasts. The courtly knight and courtly lady, and the transforming idea of courtly love, are seen through the literature that celebrated them, and we learn how literacy among an aristocratic laity spread from France through Germany and became the basis of a cultural revolution. At the same time, Bumke clearly challenges those who have comfortably confused the ideals of courtly culture with their expression in courtly society.

About the Author:

Joachim Bumke is Professor of German at the University of Cologne. Courtly Culture (Hofische Kultur; Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1986), a great success in Germany, is his second book to be translated into English; the first was Knighthood in the Middle Ages (AMS Press, 1982).