Customer Reviews

The Quest for Eternity: Manners and Morals in the Age of Chivalry. [Orig. pub. as The Age of Chivalry.]

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This book is a history of Medieval Europe. It is divided into 4 sections: a prologue covering the formation of Medieval Europe following the collapse of Roman Civilization, a section on daily living conditions for peasants, aristocracy, and the church at the time of the Millennium, a section on the agriculture revolution and the changes it made possible following the invention of the heavy plow, a section on later Middle Ages and Crusades, and an epilogue covering the period just before the Renaissance. Sources are cited in end notes. Additional end material includes a list of dates, a bibliography, and an index.

While the book does include material about the living conditions for different types of people, including commoners, the subtitle, "Manners and Morals in the Age of Chivalry" is a bit overstated. Most of the book consists of a straightforward historical account of the Middle Ages in Europe, including major political and technological developments. Wood does explain how some of the rules of chivalry evolved, but this is not the central material in the book. Overall, the book is quite informative and well researched, although the prose can be a little dry in places.