P.S. Lewis's work has done much to make the history of Prance in the later middle ages more accessible to the English reader and to establish new lines of enquiry and interpretation. The book's central theme is the physical and mental structure of French politics in the period. Following a general survey, the author illustrates his arguments by examining a series of institutions, attitudes and ideas.
The essays in this volume portray the public life of late medieval France as that country established its position as a leader of western European society in the early modern world. A central theme is the contribution made by contemporary writers, chroniclers and commentators, such as Jean Froissart, William Worcester and Philippe de Commynes, to our understanding of the past. Who were they? What picture of their times did they present? Were their works intended to influence their contemporaries and what success did they enjoy? Other contributions deal with the exercise of political power, the relationship between the court and those in authority in far-flung reaches of the kingdom, and the role and status of the death penalty as deterrent, punishment and means of achieving justice. "... a very valuable overview of recent work on the interface between the intellectual and the political history of the Valois realm."—De Re Militari Online "... this collection will be of particular interest to literary scholars as well as historians in view of the emphasis of many of the essays on representations above event or record."—Medium Aevum
From the contents:00Part I: Allegorical Dream-Visions and Debate Poems Jonathan Morton, 'Friars in love: Manuscript illumination as literary commentary in three fourteenth-century manuscripts of the Roman de la rose' (Paris, BnF, MS .25526; Baltimore, Walters, MS W. 143;London, BL, MS Royal 19 B XIII) - Emma Cayley, ‘Entre deux sommes’: Imagining desire in the songe de la Pucelle' - HelenJ. Swi , 'Limits of representation in late fifteenth-century Burgundy: What the eye doesn’t hear and the ear doesn’t see'. 00Part II: 'Burgundian prose narratives' Dominique Lagorgette, 'Staging transgression rough text and image: Violence and nudity in the cent nouvelles nouvelles'(Glasgow, University Library, MS Hunter252, and Vérard 1486 and 1498) – Rebecca Dixon, 'The Roman de Buscalus; or, the artof not being French' – Rosalind Brown-Grant, 'Personal drama or chivalric spectacle? The reception of the Roman d’Olivier de Castille in the illuminations of the Wavrin aster and Loyset Liédet'00Part III: Reworkings of classical and Medieval auctores' J. Chimène Bateman, 'The hybrid art of the compiler: Text/Image relations in the Ovidemoralisé of Colard Mansion' – KathleenWilson-Chevalier, 'Proliferating narratives: Texts, images, and (Mostly Female) dedicatees in a few héroïdes productions' – Elizabeth L’Estrange, 'Re-Presenting Emilia in the context of the Querelle des femmes: Text and image in Anne de Graville’s Beau Roman list of manuscripts and early printed editions'
Recent research has emphasised the importance of insular French in medieval English culture alongside English and Latin; for a period of some four hundred years, French (variously labelled the French of England, Anglo-Norman, Anglo-French, and Insular French) rivalled these two languages. The essays here focus on linguistic adaptation and translation in this new multilingual England, where John Gower wrote in Latin while his contemporary Chaucer could break new ground in English.
A fresh introduction to the political history of late medieval France duing the turbulent period of the Hundred Years' War, taking into account the social, economic and religious contexts. Graeme Small considers not just the monarchy but also prelates, noble networks and the emerging municipalities in this new analysis.
Few medieval or Renaissance political writers, male or female, wrote more works on politics than Christine de Pizan; none of them addressed audiences so varied in class or gender. Yet until now there has been no comprehensive full-length study of Christine de Pizan's political thought. With The Political Theory of Christine de Pizan, Kate Forhan rectifies this oversight, situating de Pizan in the history of political thought while discussing traditional concerns of political theorists, such as justice, obligation, law, equality, and just war. Forhan also addresses the question of whether Pizan's work is original or derivative; whether she is a theorist or "merely" a political writer. Between 1400 and 1429, at a time of great civil strife in France, Christine de Pizan wrote ten books for the instruction and guidance of those engaged in political life. Her theory is focused on a "politics of inclusion," which validates the essential contribution of each member of the body politic to the whole, despite socially and politically mandated difference of class, nationality, and gender-ideas not without significance to the modern era. As Forhan demonstrates through analysis of her work, the thought of Christine de Pizan has true relevance for modern times. First, hers was a society in transition: new class structures, new occupations, and new aspirations were appearing behind the crumbling structures of the late medieval world. Secondly, Christine de Pizan was an outsider; a woman in a world dominated by men, an Italian in France, a member of the "meritocracy" at a court that was rigidly hierarchical. Her "difference" gave her the perspective to observe her society objectively. Her personal vulnerability allowed her to see politics more clearly, as those who are most vulnerable might see our own. Thirdly, she was a shrewd observer in a country that was emerging as a nation-state, where new concepts and practices of law, justice, administration, and politics in general were in the process of development. This book will be of interest to political theorists and political scientists; medieval historians; historians of women and gender; and scholars of comparative literature.
The state is the most powerful and contested of political ideas, loved for its promise of order but hated for its threat of coercion. In this broad-ranging new study, Alan Harding challenges the orthodoxy that there was no state in the Middle Ages, arguing instead that it was precisely then that the concept acquired its force. He explores how the word 'state' was used by medieval rulers and their ministers and connects the growth of the idea of the state with the development of systems for the administration of justice and the enforcement of peace. He shows how these systems provided new models for government from the centre, successfully in France and England but less so in Germany. The courts and legislation of French and English kings are described establishing public order, defining rights to property and liberty, and structuring commonwealths by 'estates'. In the final chapters the author reveals how the concept of the state was taken up by political commentators in the wars of the later Middle Ages and the Reformation Period, and how the law-based 'state of the king and the kingdom' was transformed into the politically dynamic 'modern state'.
A comparative study of how the societies of late medieval England and France reacted to the long period of conflict between them from political, military, social and economic perspectives.
