Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages

Bumke, Joachim

ISBN 10: 0520066340 / ISBN 13: 9780520066342

Published by University of California Press, 1991

About this Item

Buy with confidence! Book is in acceptable condition with wear to the pages, binding, and some marks within 3.05. Seller Inventory # bk0520066340xvz189zvxacp

Bibliographic Details

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

Publisher: University of California Press

Publication Date: 1991

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fair

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).