Greetings all! I am brushing up on my medieval French history and was wondering if anyone knew of some good books. I've done a search on amazon and come up with a couple. What I'm looking for is a good general history of France duing the Middle Ages. I plan to concentrate on the early to mid 1300's, but I have feeling I will have to get my French reading skills back into shape to find books that don't take the English viewpoint So anyway, know any good books on medieval France? Slainte, Fearghus
------------------ "How long will we fight? We will fight until hell freezes over. Then we fight on the ice." Fearghus's Homepage
Look for titles by Phillippe Contamine. Some have been translated, and he's a reknowned expert on the subject. Froissart's chronicles continuted the work of Jean Le Bel. They were Franco-Flemish by birth, and they both relate the Hundred Years War from an unusually impartial viewpoint. There are a number of excerpts of the chronicles on the web, and several worth while editions in print. Gaston de Clermont
Here's the reading list for a cousre on Medieval France (300-1494) that I took about 8 (gack) years ago. I've included my impressions of the authors or why the book was included. Hope this is of help.
Elizabeth Hallam, Capetian France 987-1328 - This was the general text for the course and did a fairly good job of covering the development of the French monarchy and surrounding history. Malcom Barber, The Trial of the Tamplars - Decent in depth study into a major event and crisis of the early 14th century. Chretien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances Georges Duby, The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest - noted, popular, and prolific French medievalist; he is pompous, revisionist, and does not cite as frequently as one might want; but is definately a French viewpoint and findable in translation. Galbert of Bruges, The Murder of Charles the Good - court intrigue in the 12th century Michel Mollat, The Poor in the Middles Ages - read in the context of discussing the Jacquerie and peasant uprisings of the mid 14th century Raymond Van Dam, Leadership and Community in Late Antique Gaul - We did start in 300 AD, reasonable book filling in background for later.
Other books mentioned: Bibliographie de'historie medieval en France (1965-1990) Ed. Michel Ballard. Fernand Braudel, The Identity of France. Georges Duby and Robert Mandrou, A History of French Civilization. Einhard and Notker the Stammerer, Two lives of Charlemagne. Regine Pernoud, Joan of Arc by Herself and Her Witnesses. Edouard Perroy, The Hundred Years War. Mariana Warner, Joan of Arc. Charles T Wood, Joan of Arc and Richard III.
Another place to look is The Medieval Review. You can usually count on getting a reasonable assement of the scholarship of a given work or author.
Alcyoneus, is Bertrand of Brittany about Bertrand de Guesclin? I've been trying to find out more about him for a while and been thwarted. I wasn't able to find a copy of this book either. Do you have more details about it?
I read "Two Lives of Charlemagne," which was on Anna's list for a college course too. It was a surprisingly good book. It's obviously earlier than what you're looking for, but it's still a good read. Gaston de Clermont
Yes, it is. While it is a "novel" it is a very historical one.
Thomas Costain has written quite a few historical novels that are very good. I think that he has several that are set in France. "The Moneylender" is one, I think.
On the fictional side I would also recommend to you the Accursed Kings (Les Rois Maudits) series by French academician Maurice Druon. This is a series of six books detailing the lives of Phillip the Fair and his children (most of whom became monarchs and met with Bad Ends - That's what happens to you and your children when you burn the Grand Master of the Templers). This series covers exactly the time period you are looking for.
The books read very much like Robert Graves _I Claudius_ and _Claudius the God_. Very personal and intimate with the family politics. In fact the French made a mini-series of them similar to the way the BBC did with Claudius.
Although Druon plays up de Molay's curse, the books portray the dynastic politics and the conflict between the French Crown and the French great lords very well and makes the various players into people with personalites and motives.
The drawback to this series is that they were last published in the U.S. in the 1950s as so are hard to find. On the other hand, they were republished in paperback in Britain, Canada, and Australia in 1990. I found a couple in a great used book store in Brisbane (Queensland) last month. The six books in order are titled:
The Iron King The Strangled Queen The Poisoned Crown The Royal Succession The She-Wolf of France The Lily and the Lion
If you're interested in rural life, I would suggest "Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error". It details the workings of a small Southern French town in this era. Taken from the records of an inquisitor as the entire adult population of the village was once under arrest for practicing the Cathar/Abigensian heresy. YIS, Jimena
On the fictional side I would also recommend to you the Accursed Kings (Les Rois Maudits) series by French academician Maurice Druon. ... The drawback to this series is that they were last published in the U.S. in the 1950s as so are hard to find. </B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
For what it's worth they are listed on amazon.co.uk. If you buy from amazon.com your profile will already be setup for the international amazons.
Ph. Contamine has focused his works on military history (Hundred Years War, francophilic side). Not a "general history of France during the Middle Ages" here. In addition, some of his hypothesises seem to be reconsidered today. However, reading 'La vie quotidienne pendant la Guerre de Cent Ans, France et Angleterre' (Paris-1976) is a very good basis.
The fact that G. Duby has been thought to be 'pompous' (sic) and 'revisionist' (aaaaaaaaargh) by some persons (1? 2?) is because he's one of the best medievalists that France (and Europe) has ever known. He revolutionized medieval history's methodology, brushed up historiography, and offered a modern, intelligent, completely renewed vision of medieval history. A must have. His 'Histoire de la France', 1st vol. (Paris-1970) may help you.
However, be prudent with Fernand Braudel. He has a quite determinist and ethnocentrist point of view.
Here are the books that I highly recommend. I don't know if they've been translated, so you'd have to check:
Thanks! I'll try to find the books you mentioned. I have Contamine's War in the Middle Ages, translated of course. My college French is probably not up to most of the other texts, but armed with a dictionary, I'm willing to take them on. BTW, my wife and I were considering taking our summer vacation in the Perigord this year. Are there any hidden gems of medieval history you recommend visting? Merci, Fearghus
------------------ "How long will we fight? We will fight until hell freezes over. Then we fight on the ice." Fearghus's Homepage
You really ought to take a look at Duby and Le Goff, even if you don't agree with their approach to the subject. The Annaliste school of history has been exceedingly influential, both pro and con. While I do not personally consider the approach valid on all historical topics, I also have to admit that the two are giants in the field.
Also, something that will throw Americans at first -- the french schools of history do not require the level of documentation required by us. For example, two first-rate scholars, Pipponier and Mane, are frequently written off by amateurs (and rivals in England) as unscholarly because of the documentation style, when nothing could be further from the truth.
QUOTE]Originally posted by Russ Mitchell: <B>Also, something that will throw Americans at first -- the french schools of history do not require the level of documentation required by us. </B>[/QUOTE]
Perdon? Being in my 5th year of university studies, and working with English, German, and American student-researchers, it's the first time I hear such an assertion. The "french" schools of history base their works on an exhaustive documentation, just like the German, English and American ones do. The 'Analyste' school, even if it's a theoretical reality, not really conceived as a ""school"" in France, is maybe the one which documentation is among the more prolific. It's a truism: one needs extensive documentation to make a reliable analysis.
The fact that some 'amateurs' (re-enactors?)write off the works of Françoise Piponnier and Perrine Mane is certainly because there are no patterns in their book, 'Se vêtir au Moyen Age'... I don't know what you mean by 'documentation style', but I can learn you if you didn't know that this book was meant to be a popularization project, so as to reach a wider audience ('amateurs' for an example). This is why the book is not riddled with references to the primary sources. This doesn't mean that those primary sources were not used. In fact, this book is largely based on the very scientific works of Piponnier and Mane, which have been all-encompassed. I encourage you to read PIPONNIER(F.), Costume et vie sociale à la Cour d'Anjou, XIV°-XV° s.; Paris-1970. Based on some thousands pages of primary sources. A 'level of documentation' that should please you. I'm happy to learn that F. Piponnier has some rivals in England.
Costume history's historiography has evolved since the 19th c. From the 'material' approach of Quicherat, Viollet-le-Duc, Enlart, Gay, Harmand,... (all French, aren't they?) who used an extensive documentation so as to detrminate as precisely as possible what costume was worn in what period, new perspectives appeared. Costume history has now more 'social' or 'cultural' purposes (in France, as in England: cf the works of Newton, etc...), so as to find a place in a wider 'social history' or 'material history'. Costume history needed that to be really involved in History. However, the 'material' approach is not abandonned. England has certainly the best contributors (see MoL medieval finds from...), but France has some talentuous scholars too (cf the works of DEMIANS d'ARCHIMBAUD, MONTEMBAULT, CARDON, etc...)
What was the thing that should have "throw Americans at first"?
------------------ Authenticity is not a way to re-enact. It's a way of life.
Excuse me, Gascoing, I should have said "citation," not "documentation." And I have seen time and time again where the french authors have not installed the huge apparatus of footnotes that are standard elsewhere; when I was going my first m.a., and when I was helping others in their research, I ran into this over and over again. This is *NOT* a criticism of the french historians themselves, or their work, rather, that someone who is unfamiliar with some of teh french historians ought to expect to see a slightly smaller "apparatus" at the bottom of each page.
Now, you're french, so perhaps my fellows and I only magically stumbled onto those works with fewer footnotes... not going to argue about it.
