There were two main reasons for the founding and spread of an independent German court culture in the 12th and 13th centuries: the ascent of the princes (combined with the establishment of the rule of territory) and the renewal of culture aided by the adoption of French ideals. Court culture has been handed down to us through a rich collection of material in literature and art, which enables us to describe the phenomenon in great detail. For the first time in many decades, this task has been undertaken in a comprehensive manner.
The book by Professor Bumke is smoothly written and includes samples of texts in their original languages and 40 illustrations.
Aimed at students of history and medieval studies, the work outlines many aspects of court culture, going beyond the strict confines of literary history by describing diverse facets of life: the construction of fortified castles, fashion, table manners and battle techniques, among others. All of these are, however, derived from literary sources, about which Prof. Bumke is highly competent. He feels that literary historians must take a vivid interest in a complete survey of society in courtly times, since the historical uniqueness of court poetry, for example, may be evaluated only by understanding it in relation to social and cultural conditions.
Prof. Joachim Bumke, born 1929, was professor at Harvard University and at the Free University in Berlin, and has been teaching literary history of the Middle Ages at the University of Cologne since 1969 - with a focus on the historical foundations of medieval literature.
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