# waning of the middle ages: a study of the forms of life, thought and art in France and the Netherlands in the XIVth and XVth centuries

An audiobook by Johan Huizinga, read by LibriVox volunteers (13 h 26 min, English).

The Waning of the Middle Ages (also known as The Autumn of the Middle Ages, or Autumntide of the Middle Ages), subtitled A study of the forms of life, thought and art in France and the Netherlands in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is Johan Huizinga's most famous work. It was published in 1919 as Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen and first translated into English in 1924. Huizinga defends the idea that the exaggerated formality and romanticism of late medieval court society was a defense mechanism against the constantly increasing violence and brutality of life. The break off between Middle Ages and Renaissance was, according to him, a period of pessimism, cultural exhaustion, and nostalgia. Even though this work has found criticism, especially for relying too heavily on evidence exclusively from the Burgundian court, it has achieved immense impact in the thought about the period. - Summary by Leni

[Listen](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/librivox/16314)

## Chapters

0. Preface (3:58): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_00_huizinga_64kb.mp3
1. The Violent Tenor of Life, part 1 (30:10): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_01_huizinga_64kb.mp3
2. The Violent Tenor of Life, part 2 (28:34): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_02_huizinga_64kb.mp3
3. Pessimism and the Ideal of the Sublime Life, part 1 (33:17): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_03_huizinga_64kb.mp3
4. Pessimism and the Ideal of the Sublime Life, part 2 (26:43): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_04_huizinga_64kb.mp3
5. The Hierarchich Conception of Society (30:09): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_05_huizinga_64kb.mp3
6. The Idea of Chivalry (27:04): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_06_huizinga_64kb.mp3
7. The Dream of Heroism and of Love (21:21): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_07_huizinga_64kb.mp3
8. Orders of Chivalry and Vows (21:51): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_08_huizinga_64kb.mp3
9. The Political and Military Value of Chivalrous Ideas (28:00): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_09_huizinga_64kb.mp3
10. Love Formalized (28:29): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_10_huizinga_64kb.mp3
11. The Conventions of Love (18:37): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_11_huizinga_64kb.mp3
12. The Idyllic Vision of Life (26:36): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_12_huizinga_64kb.mp3
13. The Vision of Death (33:03): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_13_huizinga_64kb.mp3
14. Religious Thought Crystallizing into Images, part 1 (30:55): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_14_huizinga_64kb.mp3
15. Religious Thought Crystallizing into Images, part 2 (27:39): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_15_huizinga_64kb.mp3
16. Types of Religious Life (40:44): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_16_huizinga_64kb.mp3
17. Religious Sensibility and Religious Imagination (23:51): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_17_huizinga_64kb.mp3
18. Symbolism in its Decline (43:31): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_18_huizinga_64kb.mp3
19. The Effects of Realism (14:25): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_19_huizinga_64kb.mp3
20. Religious Thought Beyond the Limits of Imagination (12:57): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_20_huizinga_64kb.mp3
21. The Forms of Thought and Practical Life (39:02): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_21_huizinga_64kb.mp3
22. Art and Life, part 1 (28:45): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_22_huizinga_64kb.mp3
23. Art and Life, part 2 (29:11): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_23_huizinga_64kb.mp3
24. The Aesthetic Sentiment (22:07): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_24_huizinga_64kb.mp3
25. Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared I. part 1 (33:06): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_25_huizinga_64kb.mp3
26. Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared I. part 2 (27:56): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_26_huizinga_64kb.mp3
27. Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared II. part 1 (22:10): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_27_huizinga_64kb.mp3
28. Verbal and Plastic Expression Compared II. part 2 (20:15): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_28_huizinga_64kb.mp3
29. The Advent of the New Form (31:48): https://archive.org/download/waning_of_the_middle_ages_2110_librivox/waningofthemiddleages_29_huizinga_64kb.mp3