Humanitas High & Late Middle Ages Books 1 and 2 begin with the establishment of feudal society following the Norman Conquest and trace the growing tension between Church and state while the Crusades bring Europeans to the Holy Lands. The Black Death ravages Europe, the Peasants’ Revolt and Hundred Years’ War disrupt social stability, and Constantinople eventually falls. Yet the medieval mind and imagination is resilient and fruitful. Scholasticism flourishes, religious life witnesses the advent of mysticism and new forms of lay piety, and the courtly love tradition produces some of the best literature the world has ever known.

The 50 chapters include:

• Accounts of historical events and figures such as the Battle of Hastings, the Crusades, Thomas Becket, and Joan of Arc
• Writings by central figures such as Anselm, Hugh of Saint-Victor, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Julian of Norwich, and Hildegard of Bingen
• Records of early explorers such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and Felix Fabri
• The writings of literary masters from across Europe: Marie de France, Dante, the authors of the York Mystery Plays, Chaucer, Petrarch, and Shakespeare