"Friedrich Heer's incisive history describes how the buoyant, fluid society of twelfth-century Europe solidified into the medieval world - a fourteenth century of religious and intellectual intolerance, fortified frontiers, and bitterly competitive states. he discusses the Crusades; the alienation of Rome and Byzantium; the rising power of the Church and the aristocracy; the life of the peasant, the town dweller, and the tradesman."--Page i.

Translation of: 'Mittelalter'. Zürich : Kindler, 1961.

Europe 1100-1350 -- Aristocracy and peasantry -- The faith of church and people -- Urban life and economy -- The twelfth century awakening -- The Crusades and the conflict of East and West -- Courtly love and courtly literature -- Popular religious movements -- Intellectualism and the universities -- Intellectual warfare in Paris -- History -- Science -- Jews and women -- The new state and the new church -- Vernacular literature -- Art and architecture.