"This book offers an account of all aspects of cultural activity and production during the years of 'Gothic Europe', that is, the world of Latin Christendom 1200-1450. It is both a celebration of the Gothic cultural achievement - in cathedral-buildilng, in manuscript illumination, in chivalric love-romance, in stained glass and in many other arts - and an investigation of its social origins and systems of production." "The celebration of the 'Gothic moment' takes the form of a full and colourful account of the great surviving works of art from the period, in a large central section. Preceding this there are two chapters describing the political and economic circumstances within which Gothic art came to fruition, and the systems of patronage, in church, court and city, that enabled it to flourish. The last two chapters identify some of the discord and restlessness within the prevailing harmonies of Gothic, and explore the new kinds of artistic form and identity that developed as the Gothic tapestry unwove."--BOOK JACKET.