Hello /his/ I don't come to this thread as much as I would like to but I need your help. I'm interested in learning more about medieval culture, weaponry, battle strategy, traditions, architecture, etc etc basically the whole 9 yards
TL;DR I want to learn more about the medieval era and need book/website suggestions
>>1088041
Alright, well first I'm gonna tell you that this is a large undertaking. Not to discourage you, but what we consider to be the medieval period is literally a millenium. So anything you read is going to either be really generalizing and vague or focused on one particular area and time.
For anything regarding weapons ever, always check out pic related. You can get it new for forty bucks, but the nigga is dead so get it cheap and used. There may be some inaccuracies due to it having been written in the '30's, but it very much lives up to its name. This book is a beautiful slab of information.
Beyond that, check out Frances and Joseph Gies for their books on generalized medieval life. They tend to center around France/Germany in the 12th-14th centuries, but it gives you a decent idea of how things were.
The question here is what exactly you're interested in. Are you curious about the 'Dark Age' when everyone was scrabbling for power after the WRE fell? Do you want to read about Vikings and shit? Charlemagne? Byzantine and their doings? England and their crazy doings when separated from the rest of the world? There's a lot to cover here.
>>1088110
Here, I'm just gonna post my bookshelf. My gf is much more the medievalist, and tends to center on France and the role of women, but this can still be of use.
>>1088139
I find myself more interested in firsthand accounts of stuff and folk tales. Check out Nibelungenlied there, it's like crazy 12th century German anime in prose form.
The Song of Roland
The Romance of the Rose
Defender of the Peace
The Chronicles of Froissart
Those primary sources, along with a good textbook on the Middle Ages, will give you a good overview. I recommend "Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 300-1500" by Brian Tierney.
>>1088110
I will look into this thank you so much
>>1088165
I'm just gonna warn you, the Japanese were fucking autistic with naming every single little bit of their gear. Like a third of the book is their different kinds of hand guards and armor pieces and stirrups and stuff.
Not OP, but is pic related of any use as a general book about the transition from the High to the Late Middle Ages?
OP here, you guys are right there is a lot to cover so I wondering if any of you had any recommendations on interesting topics
>>1088246
>from the High to the Late Middle Ages
Those both mean the same thing.
>>1088246
No, he just pushes the idea that nothing happened for 1,000 years. Try pic related, she's also good for general readers but has actually useful info.
>>1088315
No, they do not. High is 1100-1300, late is 1300-1500
>>1088334
No, it isn't. Also, assigning abitrary dates and then saying "this is this time period" is literally one of the first things they teach you not to do as an historian. The "High" and the "Late" Middle Ages both refer to the same time period, and are generally taken to be around the time of the Investiture Controversy and onwards.
>>1088321
I was just about to post your post. Fucking Charles get out of my head.
Manchester is brilliant, but yeah, he really just shits on the Medieval era for 300 pages.
>>1088548
What are you talking about ? The high and late middle ages are fairly different. The high middle ages were the time of the crusades, the small birth of centralized power, the chainmail, the all-powerful Church. The late middle age had huge central monarchies, modern tax and military system, plate armor, and Kings who could start ignoring the Pope.
>>1088688
We're both right (I pointed out the dates first). Its not like shit changes overnight, in fact, my area of study spans like the 12-14th. But, that is a common date division. Arbitrary, but it is used.
And of course, shit does change over the course of centuries, and is constantly changing. Picking any reference point to divide time periods is always going to be irrelevant to another place/field/etc.
>>1088688
Not to mention the beginning of what eventually became the pike and shot era.
>>1088041
Le Goff and Georges Duby are both good.
>>1088729
I second Duby, his study of William Marshal might not be a bad place for OP to start if he's interested in knights and warfare.
