This volume surveys nine mediaeval texts which track the growth, sophistication, and power of the mediaeval mind, as it evolved from the sixth century scholarly thought of Cassiodorus and Boethius to Chaucer, Piers Plowman, and the Welsh Mabinogion’s efforts to formulate the premodern condition. En route, the book explores scorching lyric poetry, the darkness of the Niebelungenlied or Beowulf, and the travels of Marco Polo. The overarching focus of the anthology is on the crucial role of mediaeval thought in the making of what we are today, a blend of cultural efforts to grasp our historical self-consciousness, artistic daring, and philosophical subtlety. Dante, Boccaccio, and Chaucer enter the selection, where their cultural imperative has best asserted itself, and the narrowness of the line that separates Mediaeval achievement from Renaissance greatness is highlighted.
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