I haven't read it and am no expert, but from the summary it seems like Huizinga believes that the increasingly elaborate customs of the aristocracy in the late

I haven't read it and am no expert, but from the summary it seems like Huizinga believes that the increasingly elaborate customs of the aristocracy in the late Middle Ages was a coping mechanism to deal with the intense violence of the period. Cantor says almost the opposite, that they developed these customs as a marker of their high status and a way to exclude others after they had outlived their original role as the fighting class once cavalry charges were no longer a dominant tactic. This is one of the rare moments in Civilization where the specifics of weapons and warfare are discussed, anyone looking for information on crossbows and lances will be dissappointed.