The Autumn of the Middle Ages, by the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, argues that the elaborate ceremony and romanticism of late medieval court society were a defence against rising violence and brutality. Huizinga portrayed the period as one of pessimism and cultural exhaustion rather than rebirth. He concluded that the collapse of medieval society, torn between traditionalist governance and an overloaded religious culture, cleared the ground for the Renaissance.
When was The Autumn of the Middle Ages first published?
The book was first published in 1919 in Dutch under the title Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen. English and German translations both appeared in 1924, followed by a French translation in 1932.
Was The Autumn of the Middle Ages nominated for the Nobel Prize?
Yes. The book was nominated for the 1939 Nobel Prize for Literature. It lost to the Finnish writer Frans Eemil Sillanpää.
What criticism has The Autumn of the Middle Ages received?
Critics have argued that Huizinga relied too heavily on the Burgundian court, an exceptional case that may not support his broad conclusions. Others have described the book's prose style as old-fashioned and too literary for a work of history.
How many English translations of The Autumn of the Middle Ages exist?
There are three English translations. The first appeared in 1924. A second, by Rodney Payton and Ulrich Mammitzsch, was published in 1996 to address deficiencies in the original. A third, by Diane Webb and published by Leiden University Press, appeared in 2020 to mark the centenary of the original Dutch edition.
What is special about the 2020 translation of The Autumn of the Middle Ages?
The 2020 Autumntide of the Middle Ages translation by Diane Webb, published by Leiden University Press, was the first English edition to include 300 full-colour illustrations of all the works of art Huizinga mentions in the text. Benjamin Kaplan described it as capturing Huizinga's original voice better than either of the two previous English editions.