A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuckman is also a good read. It covers from the middle of the 14th Century (around 1350 when the plague years began to the end of that century. The rarity of sensible leadership in a number of European areas is quite notable. Leadership was mostly ceremony and showmanship.
I tried the audiobook version years ago, didn’t get through it before it had to go back. I should look for that online. I broke off during a seemingly interminable discussion of a single posh family in England that fought in the 100 Yrs War.