This is an excelent book on the study of courtly culture in the German world. It covers everything you need to know. From its development to its changes over time. I have never known as much about it if it wasn't for this book. The person who gave it two stars is dumb. She should have looked into the product BEFORE buying it. Instead she bought it and then claimed it wasn't great because it didn't cover what she wanted. If anything, the beginning of courtly culture only serves to demonstrate that this book isn't 100% German based, since many of the people who wrote the early books on the topic were ITALIAN. Some of these Italians went so far as to write in German. And then others were Germans themselves. So it makes sense that it's two fold, since the German Empire was actually a "Roman" German Empire. They didn't call Italians Italians in the Middle Ages. They were called Romans, in a general fashion. Other times they referred to them by their city name, like Venetians, or Florencians, etc.Whatever the case, if you want to know how courtly culture developed in (partially) Italy and central Europe, this book is for you.Why I got this: I am doing a research project on court life during the reign of Henry IIPros: the book is really well informed, presented well, and is easy to follow.Cons: I may have missed this in the initial product info, but somehow I missed that this seemed to focus on Germanic court life, instead of British. That was my only disappointment, since this won't help on my research.Overall: If you're looking for an interesting read, this is good. If you're looking for something focusing on British courts, this isn't the material for you.Joachim Bumke was an excellent scholar about medieval Germany, but he was not a historian or an archeologist. He was a professor of German. This afforded him a unique perspective. He charted developments in his book Courtly Culture from a literary view, not merely records or artifacts. His wide vision and meticulous scholarship allowed him a depth of perception that is rarely matched. This work charts the evolution of the courtly/chivalric aristocratic culture in Germany during the High Medieval period of the 12th and 13th Centuries, expanding when needed back into the 11th and forward to the 14th. It is a truly comprehensive work.He explains matters clearly, and concisely, even when they lay outside his expertise, indicating he consulted with other experts in the fields he surveyed. His use of art and archeology all point to careful research, but it is his use of literature that shows both his passion and his true expertise. Like the expert he was, he charted the importation of the chivalric ideals along with the vocabulary that developed to express them as these moved from France where they developed into Germany via song, poetry, prose, and in the more concrete forms of art, artifacts, and architecture. Most importantly, he uses the concrete proofs to validate literary examples, and addresses the artistic license and fantasy of the medieval authors while shows how forthright they often were.The literature he covers will be only passingly familiar to the normal English speaker because he focuses on medieval German works that are largely inaccessible to a non-specialist. However, many things will be familiar and the barrier is surmountable. This material is mostly unknown outside of Germany which renders his work all the more valuable. He breaks the various topics into easily used sections and presents the material in a artful way. This translation is highly readable and clear. It may seem wordy, but a good study of this pivotal period deserves deep attention. Bumke delivers on all fronts.