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Paul Freedman - Images of the Medieval Peasant - 9780804733724 - V9780804733724
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Images of the Medieval Peasant

€ 171.35
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Description for Images of the Medieval Peasant Hardback. The medieval clergy, aristocracy, and commercial classes tended to regard peasants as objects of contempt and derision, yet, at the same time, they were not viewed like other condemned groups. This text examines these conflicting images from the post-Carolingian period to the German Peasants' War. Series: Figurae: Reading Medieval Culture. Num Pages: 484 pages, Illustrations. BIC Classification: 1D; 3JB; HBJD; HBLC; JFSC. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 5817 x 3887 x 34. Weight in Grams: 840.

The medieval clergy, aristocracy, and commercial classes tended to regard peasants as objects of contempt and derision. In religious writings, satires, sermons, chronicles, and artistic representations peasants often appeared as dirty, foolish, dishonest, even as subhuman or bestial. Their lowliness was commonly regarded as a natural corollary of the drudgery of their agricultural toil.

Yet, at the same time, the peasantry was not viewed as “other” in the manner of other condemned groups, such as Jews, lepers, Muslims, or the imagined “monstrous races” of the East. Several crucial characteristics of the peasantry rendered it less clearly alien from the elite ... Read more

This book examines these conflicting images of peasants from the post-Carolingian period to the German Peasants’ War. It relates the representation of peasants to debates about how society should be organized (specifically, to how human equality at Creation led to subordination), how slavery and serfdom could be assailed or defended, and how peasants themselves structured and justified their demands.

Though it was argued that peasants were legitimately subjugated by reason of nature or some primordial curse (such as that of Noah against his son Ham), there was also considerable unease about how the exploitation of those who were not completely alien—who were, after all, Christians—could be explained. Laments over peasant suffering as expressed in the literature might have a stylized quality, but this book shows how they were appropriated and shaped by peasants themselves, especially in the large-scale rebellions that characterized the late Middle Ages.

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Product Details

Format
Hardback
Publication date
1999
Publisher
Stanford University Press United States
Number of pages
484
Condition
New
Series
Figurae: Reading Medieval Culture
Number of Pages
484
Place of Publication
Palo Alto, United States
ISBN
9780804733724
SKU
V9780804733724
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1

About Paul Freedman
Paul Freedman is Professor of History at Yale University and the author, most recently, of Church, Law, and Society in Catalonia, 900-1500.

Reviews for Images of the Medieval Peasant
"Freedman's command of material drawn from all over Europe is impressive and anyone interested in the medieval or early modern German peasantry will profit greatly from reading this book."—Central European History

Goodreads reviews for Images of the Medieval Peasant


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