Autumntide of the Middle Ages
A study of forms of life and thought of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in France and the Low Countries
9789087283131
616 pages
Amsterdam University Press
Overview
This new English translation of Huizinga’s Autumntide of the Middle Ages (Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen) celebrates the centenary of a book that still ranks as one of the most perceptive and in¿uential analyses of the late medieval period. Its wide-ranging discussion of fourteenth and ¿fteenth century France and the Low Countries makes it a classic study of life, culture, and thought in medieval society. The new and now unabridged translation of the original text captures the impact of Huizinga’s deep scholarship and powerful language. The translation is based on the Dutch edition of 1941 – the last edition Huizinga worked on. It features English renderings of the Middle French poems and other contemporary sources, and its colour illustrations include over three hundred paintings and prints, illuminated manuscripts, and miniatures pertinent to Huizinga’s discourse. A complete bibliography of Huizinga’s sources will facilitate further research, while an epilogue addresses the meaning and enduring importance of this classic work.
Author Bio
Graeme Small is Professor of Medieval History at Durham University and the author of several books, including George Chastelain and the Shaping of Valois Burgundy as well as Court and Civic Society in the Burgundian Low Countries (with Andrew Brown) and Late Medieval France.
Anton van der Lem is historian by education and curator of rare books in University Library Leiden. He took the initiative to edit the correspondence of Huizinga (with Léon Hanssen and Wessel Krul): Briefwisseling (3 vols., 1989-1991). His introductory biography Johan Huizinga : Leven en werk in beelden en documenten (1993), thesis Het Eeuwige verbeeld in een afgehaald bed : Johan Huizinga en de Nederlandse beschaving (1997) and Inventaris van het archief van Johan Huizinga are landmarks in the study of Huizinga's life and times. In 2018 he edited the centennial edition of Herfsttij, profusely illustrated with 300 reproductions.
