Lepage Jean-Denis G.G. Medieval Armies and Weapons in Western Europe. An Illustrated History

McFarland & Company, 2005. — 280 p.Hundreds of years after the close of the Middle Ages, the period continues to exert a unique emotional power over Western culture. The attitude of Westerners is ambivalent but never detached. A governmental system that is disliked is termed "medieval", yet Westerners continue to be drawn to tales of King Arthur, Ivanhoe, and Robin Hood. The Middle Ages are considered a barbaric time, and yet they furnish enduring icons: the knight in shining armor, the idealized lady, and the king upon his throne. The perception many have of the Middle Ages is mythic rather than historical, but somehow the period remains in one's consciousness in a way that other historical periods do not. The medieval world is at times alien and remote, yet it always resonates within the psyche of Westerners. Such fascination is not an idle fancy.