Many aspects of medieval society are alien to the twentieth-century observer, such as the hierarchy of ranks and the division of authority into the secular and the religious. Yet medieval history is full of personalities who attract and interest us and Christopher Brooke portrays them in the context of their society. Keeping generalization to a minimum, the author concentrates on particular topics -- the court, the papacy, the law, the town and the countryside -- and explains how they functioned and some of the paradoxes implicit in them. He also focuses on outstanding men of disparate background and philosophy who had a place within the complex and rigid structure of medieval society -- St. Francis, Pope Innocent III, Louis VI of France, Henry I of England, Henry Blois, the prince-bishop of Winchester, and Suger, Abbot of St. Denis. Professor Brooke introduces the reader to the society of an age that achieved an extraordinarily coherent and integrated civilization, one that formed an essential, if often unsuspected, part of our own civilization. -- From publisher's description.