The Middle Ages have been the object of two opposing and monolithic visions. Or a kingdom of miseries, plagues and violence; Or time of the great conquests of the spirit: monasteries, cathedrals, imposing theological elaborations or development of the first universities. But there is another Middle Ages that is addressed here: that of the coexistence of these two visions. On the one hand, that which exalts the asceticism of contemptus mundi (contempt of the world in all its manifestations) as did Pope Innocent III at the end of the twelfth century. On the other hand, it offers different expressions of the happiness of living: St. Francis "minstrel of God", goliards and courteous ideals (the fine love), the many religious and civic festivals that mark the Christian calendar ... Even war -extended calamity-may have a certain playful dimension, as does the competitive spirit of academic contentiones. The medieval Christian, in short, could dream of happiness in worlds not yet tangible: that of certain material and spiritual utopias, or of the beatific vision in an afterlife.