Abstract
IN DISCUSSING the culture of a period, historians often employ the German term Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. The culture of each epoch is likely to have a dominant trend that manifests itself to a greater or lesser degree in every one of its phases, such as philosophy, literature, art, and architecture. In a period like the Middle Ages, where the dominant trend is strong and clear, an understanding of the zeitgeist is necessary for any adequate comprehension of the culture of the age. But it is important to remember that every culture contains elements that do not conform to the zeitgeist. Some of these elements have no future and are but dying remnants of earlier civilizations. Others are seeds that will grow and flower in a later period. Too often the impressive grandeur of the central theme of mediaeval culture has tempted historians either to neglect these inconsistent elements, or to try by some tour de force to fit them into the general pattern. In this chapter we shall attempt to keep the dominant trend clearly in sight but at the same time give adequate notice to all important contradictory elements, especially those that were to flourish in the future.
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Bibliography
The standard book on the intellectual history of the Middle Ages is H. O. Taylor, The medieval mind (1927), 2 vols.
Frederick B. Artz, The mind of the middle ages (1952),
is the best recent book on mediaeval ideas. Other valuable works on intellectual history are E. K. Rand, The founders of the middle ages (1928),
C. H. Haskins, The Renaissance of the twelfth century (1927),
G. C. Crump and E. F. Jacob, The legacy of the middle ages (1926);
and F. J. C. Hearn-shaw, Medieval contributions to modern civilization (1921).
The fullest and best treatment of mediaeval philosophy is found in M. de Wulf, History of medieval philosophy, English translation by E. C. Messenger (1925–26), 2 vols. The subject is treated more briefly in A. C. McGiffert, History of Christian thought (1932), 2 vols.
E. Gilson has written two valuable books, The spirit of medieval philosophy (1930), and Reason and revelation in the middle ages (1938).
A very useful and stimulating brief work on an important subject is Meyrick H. Carré, Realists and nominalists (1942).
The basic book on mediaeval political theory is R. W. Carlyle and A. J. Carlyle, A history of medieval political theory in the west (1903–36), 8 vols.
C. H. McIlwain, Growth of political thought in the west (1932), has important and stimulating chapters on the Middle Ages.
The best, in fact the only thorough, book on historical literature is J. W. Thompson, History of historical writing (1942), 2 vols.
The standard work on mediaeval science is L. Thorndike, History of magic and experimental science (1923–40), 6 vols.
C. H. Haskins, Studies in mediaeval science (1924), is a useful collection of essays.
L. C. MacKinney, Early medieval medicine (1937), is a valuable brief treatment of this subject.
The Cambridge history of English literature (1903), vol. I, supplies the best general account of mediaeval literature in England.
Gaston Paris, Medieval French literature (1903),
and Urban T. Holmes, Jr., A history of old French literature from the origins to 1300 (1948), cover French literature.
W. A. Craigie, The Icelandic sagas (1913), is the standard English work on that subject.
W. P. Ker, Epic and romance (1908), is a general summary of mediaeval romantic literature.
There are two excellent books on mediaeval Latin poetry: Helen Waddell, Medieval Latin lyrics (1929),
and J. A. Symonds, Wine, women, and song (1884).
Chivalric literature is dealt with in C. S. Lewis, The allegory of love (1936);
R. L. Kilgour, The decline of chivalry (1937);
and S. Painter, French chivalry (1940).
The standard history of mediaeval architecture is A. K. Porter, Medieval architecture: its origins and development (rev. ed., 1912), 2 vols.
K. J. Conant, Early mediaeval church architecture (1942), is a stimulating brief treatment of this subject.
C. R. Morey has written two valuable books on art: Christian art (1935), and Medieval art (1942).
The standard history of mediaeval universities is H. Rashdall, The universities of Europe in the middle ages, rev. ed. by Sir Maurice Powicke and A. B. Emden (1936), 3 vols.
C. H. Haskins, The rise of the universities (1923), is an excellent brief study.
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© 1979 Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Painter, S. (1979). Mediaeval Civilization. In: A History of the Middle Ages 284–1500. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-00284-9_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-00284-9_14
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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