The waning of the middle ages: a study of the forms of life, thought and art in…


Lu par LibriVox Volunteers

(4.5 stars; 2 reviews)

The Waning of the Middle Ages (also known as The Autumn of the Middle Ages, or Autumntide of the Middle Ages), subtitled A study of the forms of life, thought and art in France and the Netherlands in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is Johan Huizinga's most famous work. It was published in 1919 as Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen and first translated into English in 1924.

Huizinga defends the idea that the exaggerated formality and romanticism of late medieval court society was a defense mechanism against the constantly increasing violence and brutality of life. The break off between Middle Ages and Renaissance was, according to him, a period of pessimism, cultural exhaustion, and nostalgia. Even though this work has found criticism, especially for relying too heavily on evidence exclusively from the Burgundian court, it has achieved immense impact in the thought about the period. - Summary by Leni (13 hr 26 min)

Chapitres

Preface 3:58 Lu par Larry Wilson
The Violent Tenor of Life, part 1 30:10 Lu par Wayne Cooke
The Violent Tenor of Life, part 2 28:34 Lu par Florence
Pessimism and the Ideal of the Sublime Life, part 1 33:17 Lu par czandra
Pessimism and the Ideal of the Sublime Life, part 2 26:43 Lu par czandra
The Hierarchich Conception of Society 30:09 Lu par ke126
The Idea of Chivalry 27:04 Lu par Michele Eaton
The Dream of Heroism and of Love 21:21 Lu par Michele Eaton
Orders of Chivalry and Vows 21:51 Lu par Michele Eaton
The Political and Military Value of Chivalrous Ideas 28:00 Lu par JacobValdez
Love Formalized 28:29 Lu par czandra
The Conventions of Love 18:37 Lu par czandra
The Idyllic Vision of Life 26:36 Lu par Andrew Mauls Byron
The Vision of Death 33:03 Lu par Andrew Mauls Byron
Religious Thought Crystallizing into Images, part 1 30:55 Lu par jaykaymak
Religious Thought Crystallizing into Images, part 2 27:39 Lu par Owlivia
Types of Religious Life 40:44 Lu par lisad
Religious Sensibility and Religious Imagination 23:51 Lu par Larry Wilson
Symbolism in its Decline 43:31 Lu par Emanuela
The Effects of Realism 14:25 Lu par czandra
Religious Thought Beyond the Limits of Imagination 12:57 Lu par Willow Lin
The Forms of Thought and Practical Life 39:02 Lu par czandra
Art and Life, part 1 28:45 Lu par Tasha Hobbs Peterson
Art and Life, part 2 29:11 Lu par Tasha Hobbs Peterson
The Aesthetic Sentiment 22:07 Lu par czandra
Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared I. part 1 33:06 Lu par Owlivia
Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared I. part 2 27:56 Lu par Owlivia
Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared II. part 1 22:10 Lu par czandra
Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared II. part 2 20:15 Lu par czandra
The Advent of the New Form 31:48 Lu par BenDowling

Critiques

Important book for those interested in the Reformation


(5 stars)

The book is a classic in its field, still an important scholarly work. The book itself gives a thorough picture of the mental world of the bourgeoisie and petty nobility of NE France/Flanders in the period immediately before the Northern Renaissance and Reformation. It may be a bit unapproachable for the common reader, as the individuals H discusses are mostly minor, obscure figures. (This is sort of the point; they're typical, not famous.) The readers are good.