In Search of the Holy Grail

"In Search of the Holy Grail is a survey of the influence of the middle ages, and of medieval attitudes and values, on later periods and on the modern world. Many artistic, political and literary movements have drawn inspiration and sought their roots in the thousand years between 500 and 1500 A.D. Medieval Christianity, and its rich legacy, has been the essential background to European culture as a whole. Gothic architecture and chivalry were two keys to Romanticism, while nationalists, including the Nazis, looked back to the middle ages to find emerging signs of national character. In literature few myths have been as durable or popular as those of King Arthur, stretching from the middle ages to Hollywood.

In an account of how later ages learnt about and interpreted their past, Veronica Ortenberg shows how strongly medieval ideas and legacies surround us still in the twenty-first century."--Jacket.