46 color illustrations.

    Reaching beyond both medieval and queer studies, Dinshaw demonstrates in this challenging work how intellectual inquiry into pre-modern societies can contribute invaluably to current issues in cultural studies. In the process, she makes important connections between past and present cultures that until now have not been realized. In her pursuit of historical analyses that embrace the heterogeneity and indeterminacy of sex and sexuality, Dinshaw examines canonical Middle English texts such as the Canterbury Tales and The Book of Margery Kempe. She examines polemics around the religious dissidents known as the Lollards as well as accounts of prostitutes in London to address questions of how particular sexual practices and identifications were normalized while others were proscribed. By exploring contemporary (mis)appropriations of medieval tropes in texts ranging from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction to recent Congressional debates on U.S. cultural production, Dinshaw demonstrates how such modern media can serve to reinforce constrictive heteronormative values and deny the multifarious nature of history. Finally, she works with and against the theories of Michel Foucault, Homi K. Bhabha, Roland Barthes, and John Boswell to show how deconstructionist impulses as well as historical perspectives can further an understanding of community in both pre- and postmodern societies. This long-anticipated volume will be indispensible to medieval and queer scholars and will be welcomed by a larger cultural studies audience.

    How have the crusades contributed to Islamist rage and terrorism today? Were the crusades the Christian equivalent of modern jihad? In this sweeping yet crisp history, Thomas F. Madden offers a brilliant and compelling narrative of the crusades and their contemporary relevance. With a cry of "God wills it!" medieval knights ushered in a new era in European history. Across Europe a wave of pious enthusiasm led many thousands to leave their homes, family, and friends to march to distant lands in a great struggle for Christ. Yet the crusades were more than simply a holy war. They represent a synthesis of attitudes and values that were uniquely medieval so medieval, in fact, that the crusading movement is rarely understood today. Placing all the major crusades within the medieval social, economic, religious, and intellectual environments that gave birth to the movement and nurtured it for centuries, Madden brings the distant medieval world vividly to life. From Palestine and Europe's farthest reaches, each crusade is recounted in a clear, concise narrative. The author gives special attention as well to the crusades' effects on the Islamic world and the Christian Byzantine East. More information is available on the author's website."

    The book examines the two principal herbal traditions of Classical descent: the Dioscorides manuscripts in Greek, Arabic, and Latin and the Latin Herbarius of Apulcius Platonicus. It shows how, from 1300, the illustrations of the de herbis Traetatus treatises, the first of which was British Library, MS. Egerton 747, showed a new observation of nature, paving the way in the fifteenth century for French Livres des Simples and the magnificent plant paintings of later Italian Herbals. Medieval Herbals provides one of the few syntheses in English of existing research on the subject and also addresses issues of dating, location, production and ownership of the individual codices. Minta Collins demonstrates how many herbals were not only codices for medical scholars but expensively illustrated books for bibliophiles, of equal interest to students of manuscripts, to historians of medicine and botany, and to art historians.

     Maintains and stimulates an interdisciplinary approach to Anglo-Saxon studies. Includes contributions from 150 experts in the field. Accessible style and layout make the encyclopedia an excellent reference tool.

    When the legendary warrior, Gaelan PenDragon demands her surrender and her oath, Siobhan refuses. In a clash of wills and customs, her enemy's vengeance comes gently and passionately—crumbling her barriers and weakening her resolve. But vanquishing her body does not give Gaelan her heart, for the price of loving the enemy could destroy Donegal forever.Sworn To ConquerHis sword for hire and undefeated in combat, love is a luxury Gaelan has never known. Yet the flame-haired Princess of Donegal inspires dreams he never dared have. Siobhan's proud defiance baits him, her smoldering desire lures him, and before the ghosts of his past can butcher the passion neither can deny, he vows to possess the Celtic beauty—at any cost. But when suspicion, lies, and a web of betrayal tear Siobhan from his arms, Gaelan vows to wage the battle of his lifetime...and capture the woman who has laid siege to his immortal soul.

    The detailed plans are based on careful study and measurement of accurate reproductions or originals from European museums. Step-by-step instructions, materials lists, and notes on woodworking, metalworking, carving, and finishes provide the means for creating history in the home workshop. A brief survey of medieval decorating and a directory of sources complete this authoritative book.

    Although there is now detailed information on Roman and late medieval families, childhood in the Anglo-Saxon child is presented in this study of the archaeological evidence such as excavated cemeteries and settlement sites, as well as the more limited documentary sources.

    -- Each title covers a huge range of information-- Clear text and lively, labeled illustrations and pictures introduce children to the history of the world-- Ancient World covers 10,000 BC - 500 AD-- Medieval World covers 500 AD - 1500 AD-- The Last 500 Years covers 1500 AD - present-- Timelines of World History is an indispensable guide to what happened when and where in the world, with plenty of illustrations and covers over 3,500 dates

    The sourcebook now ranges from the first lines of Greek literature to the death of Alexander the Great, covering all of the main historical periods and social phenomena of ancient Greece. The material is taken from a variety of sources: historians, inscriptions, graffiti, law codes, epitaphs, decrees, drama and poetry. It includes the major literary authors, but also covers a wide selection of writers, including many non-Athenian authors. Whilst focusing on the main cities of ancient Greece - Athens and Sparta- the sourcebook also draws on a wide range of material concerning the Greeks in Egypt, Italy, Sicily, Asia Minor and the Black Sea.Ancient Greece covers not only the chronological, political history of ancient Greece, but also explores the full spectrum of Greek life through topics such as gender, social class, race and labour. This revised edition includes:Two completely new chapters - "The Rise of Macedon" and "Alexander ′the Great′, 336-323" BCNew material in the chapters on The City-State, Religion in the Greek World, Tyrants and Tyranny, The Peloponnesian War and its Aftermath, Labour: Slaves, Serfs and Citizens, and Women, Sexuality and the FamilyIt is structured so that:Thematically arranged chapters arranged allow students to build up gradually knowledge of the ancient Greek worldIntroductory essays to each chapter give necessary background to understand topic areasLinking commentaries help students understand the source extracts and what they reveal about the ancient GreeksAncient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander the Great. Third Edition, will continue to be a definitive collection of source material on the society and culture of the Greeks.

    Chapters include Martyr's views on the scope of theology, the study of theology, the authority of scripture, human nature, human happiness, the knowledge of God, the person of Christ, justification and faith, the Lord's Supper, views on music and songs, predestination, free will, providence, moral virtue, civil magistrates, and prayer.

    

    The colossal dimensions of these cathedrals required not only enormous financial outlay, but also great organisational and technical skills. How, for example, were such long-term projects planned, lasting in some cases for many generations? How was work organised on the building site? Which forms were used, and how were they developed? What were the representational aims of the patrons of churches and secular buildings? And what symbolic significance lies behind these buildings, which were not only architectural masterpieces but also a vehicle for theological content, as part of the liturgy? We can only begin to understand the 'spirit of the Gothic' through an understanding of the historical, sociological, theological, economic and technological background in this time of change. Given this, we can then start to read Gothic cathedrals like the pages of a book.

    The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard looks at the earlier correspondence between these two famous individuals, revealing the emotions and intimate exchanges that occurred between them. The perspectives presented here are very different from the view related by Abelard in his "History of My Calamities," an account which provoked a much more famous exchange of letters between Heloise and Abelard after they had both entered religious life. Offering a full translation of the love letters along with a copy of the actual Latin text, Mews provides an in-depth analysis of the debate concerning the authenticity of the letters and look at the way in which the relationship between Heloise and Abelard has been perceived over the centuries. He also explores the political, literary, and religious contexts in which the two figures conducted their affair and offers new insights into Heloise as an astonishingly gifted writer, whose literary gifts were ultimately frustrated by the course of her relationship with her teacher.

    The Maesta was painted between 1308 and 1311 by Duccio di Buoninsegna for the high altar of Siena Cathedral. The volume contains photographs of the different sections of the great altarpiece, both the front, showing the Virgin in glory, and the back, with the stories of the Passion of Christ taken from the gospels. The narrative sequence of the Maesta moves from the enthroned Virgin and Christ to the figures of the angels, saints and apostles who surround her. The scenes of the Passion, from left to right, follow the chronological order of the Gospels.

    Explore another fascinating dimension of medieval warfare in this engaging account of knights and their various kinds of armor. Oakeshott focuses on the armor of the later Middle Ages, from 1100 to 1500. He examines how armor developed, how craftsmen made the important garments, and he looks in detail at the different kinds of helmets and which were the best. He also looks at the other important aspects of a knight's armor and finishes up with a discussion of how the armor was worn. Along the way he dispels a number of myths about medieval armor. Originally published in 1961-and of interest to young and older readers-this updated and revised edition of A Knight and His Armor has an extensive and useful glossary. Accurately illustrated by the author, the book captures the wonder and magic of a past time. "Oakeshott here provides a detailed history of how armor developed, how and of what it was made, and how it was worn."-Library Journal

    D. Fairchild Ruggles offers a new interpretation, contending that the palace garden was primarily an environmental, economic, and political construct.She discusses three aspects of medieval Islamic Spain: the landscape and agricultural transformation documented in Arabic scientific literature, the formation of the garden and its symbolism from the eighth through the fifteenth centuries, and the role of the gaze and the frame in the spatial structures through which sovereignty was constituted.Although the repertory of architectural and garden forms was largely unchanged from the tenth through the fifteenth centuries, Ruggles explains that their meaning changed dramatically. The royal palace gardens of Cordoba expressed a political ideology that placed the king above and at the center of the garden and, metaphorically, of his kingdom.This conception of the world began to falter in later centuries, but patrons clung to the forms and motifs of the golden age. Instead of creating new forms, artists at the Alhambra in Granada reworked and refined familiar vocabulary and materials. The vistas fixed by windows and pavilions referred not to the actual relationship of the king to his domain but rather to the memory of a once-expanding territory.

    This volume, the first of two comprising "The Making of English Law, " provides the first full-length account of the Old English law-codes for over eighty years, and the first that has ever been published in the English language.

    Elizabeth de Burgh, nee Elizabeth de Clare, (1295-1360) led a tumultuous early life: an arranged marriage, an abduction leading to a clandestine second marriage, a forced third marriage to a man who died a traitor. Afterwards, empowered by a vow of chastity to insure her independence, Elizabeth emerged as a capable administrator of her vast estates, a concerned mother and grandmother, a shrewd builder of social and political networks, and a good friend. She expressed her piety by many charitable initiatives, culminating in the foundation of Clare College, Cambridge University, a demonstration of her devotion to God and to learning. This book is the first biography of this remarkable woman. Frances Underhill shows how deeply gender issues influenced her life and how admirably Elizabeth rose above them to impact the lives of others. Hedged in by gender barriers, Underhill reveals, Elizabeth achieved prestige among her contemporaries and left a lasting legacy after her death.

    According to tradition, this was taken as he lay "under a cloak," presumably seeking inspiration from his, pagan, deities. First published in 1979, the present edition expands its discussion of the background to this peacable adoption of the new faith, and its growth under succeeding generations. The author shows how tolerance and pragmatism were early features of the Icelandic church.

    Was life too short anyway, and the Church too disapproving, to admit suicide? And how is the historian supposed to find out? In addressing these questions Alexander Murray takes the reader on a remarkable odyssey through medieval law, social life, literature, and religion. He examines a wide range of suicides and explores how the living reacted to them--a topic that will be examined in more detail in Volumes II and III of this masterly trilogy.

    In this lively book, C. M. Woolgar explores the fascinating details of life in a great house. Based on extensive investigation of household accounts and related primary documents, Woolgar vividly illuminates the operations of great households. He also delineates the major changes that transformed the economy and geography of both lay and clerical households between 1200 and 1500.In this portrait of aristocratic and gentry life in medieval England, Woolgar describes the roles of family members, the situations of servants, the uses of space within the household, food and drink for daily consumption and for special occasions, furnishing, clothing, arrangements for travel, household animals, cleanliness and hygiene, entertainment, the practices of religion, and intellectual life. The author also analyzes the qualitative and social evolution of great households as definitions of magnificence and conventions of etiquette became increasingly elaborate.

    thus the entire set of texts can be read as a study in Norse literary patronage, of literary renewal and transformation... A major contribution, not only to the Old Norse field, but to the broader world of medieval literature and culture. Norse Romance will endure for years to come. SPECULUM Norse Romances comprises a three-volume set, making available for the first time critical editions and translations of important medieval Arthurian texts from Iceland, Norway and Sweden, under the general editorship of Marianne Kalinke. This volume is devoted to the Tristan legend. It contains Geitarlauf and Janual, Old Norse translations of the French lais Lanval and Chevrefeuil; Tristrams saga ok Is�ndar, Brother Thomas's Old Norse translationof Thomas's Tristan, dated 1226 and commissioned by King H�kon H�konarson the Old of Norway; "Tristrams kv�di", a fourteenth-century Icelandic "Tristan" ballad; and the Saga af Tristram ok Isodd, a fourteenth-century Icelandic version of the Old Norse Tristrams saga ok Is�ndar.The translators are: ROBERT COOK, PETER JORGENSEN, JOYCE HILL, MARIANNE E. KALINKE.Professor MARIANNE KALINKE teaches in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Bede’s The Reckoning of Time (De temporum ratione) was the first comprehensive treatise on this subject, and the model and reference for all subsequent teaching, discussion and criticism of the Christian calendar. The Reckoning of Time is a systematic exposition of the Julian solar calendar and the Paschal table of Dionysius Exiguus, with their related formulae for calculating dates. But it is more than a technical handbook. Bede sets calendar lore within a broad scientific framework and a coherent Christian concept of time, and incorporates themes as diverse as the theory of tides and the threat of chiliasm. This translation of the full text includes an extensive historical introduction and a chapter-by-chapter commentary. The Reckoning of Time also serves as an accessible introduction to the computus itself.

    And the King of France loved him as his own soul; and they loved each other so much that the King of England was absolutely astonished at the vehement love between them and marveled at what it could mean."Public avowals of love between men were common from antiquity through the Middle Ages. What do these expressions leave to interpretation? An extraordinary amount, as Stephen Jaeger demonstrates.Unlike current efforts to read medieval culture through modern mores, Stephen Jaeger contends that love and sex in the Middle Ages relate to each other very differently than in the postmedieval period. Love was not only a mode of feeling and desiring, or an exclusively private sentiment, but a way of behaving and a social ideal. It was a form of aristocratic self-representation, its social function to show forth virtue in lovers, to raise their inner worth, to increase their honor and enhance their reputation. To judge from the number of royal love relationships documented, it seems normal, rather than exceptional, that a king loved his favorites, and the courtiers and advisors, clerical and lay, loved their superiors and each other.Jaeger makes an elaborate, accessible, and certain to be controversial, case for the centrality of friendship and love as aristocratic lay, clerical, and monastic ideals. Ennobling Love is a magisterial work, a book that charts the social constructions of passion and sexuality in our own times, no less than in the Middle Ages.

    The work, an unparalleled achievement of Jewish thought, is devoted to a demonstration that the Torah, properly understood, is identical to true philosophy.

    The text covers human anatomy, reproductive theories, equine and canine veterinary medicine, folk remedies against household pests, advice on training a falcon, theories on whether an ostrich will eat iron, and cures for rabies and sterility.

    • Based on the original Italian Renaissance Tarot deck, with contemporary interpretations by the best-selling author of The Light and Shadow Tarot. • Includes cards for the 12 astrological signs and the 4 elements, as well as additional Virtue cards for the major arcana. • Includes stunning variations of many traditional Tarot images.• 272-page book with 400 black-and-white illustrations. • 97 full-color cards. The Minchiate is one of the most unique decks ever to emerge from the centuries-old Tarot tradition. In the first modern presentation of this divinatory system, artist and writer Brian Williams explains the allegorical, esoteric, and symbolic meanings of this expanded deck that not only includes cards for each of the astrological signs, but also for the four elements and several additional figures in the major arcana. Although those familiar with the traditional Tarot will recognize many of the cards of the Minchiate, even Tarot aficionados will be surprised and delighted by many striking differences, such as the knights who are now transformed into mythical beasts or the Chariot card in which the armored warrior has been replaced by a peaceful maiden. Brian Williams's insightful interpretations of the cards, based on his extensive knowledge of the Tarot and Italian history, enable readers to use this deck as a tool for profound self-exploration and transformation. One of the most popular Italian Tarots, the Minchiate served as the basis for many other famous decks before fading into obscurity during the nineteenth century. Now this important Tarot, reformulated with the author's extensive commentary and subtle interpretations of the original art, is finally again available for modern readers and devotees of the Tarot.

    He reveals how—and why—medieval Christianity fashioned a Jew on the basis of its reading of the Bible, and how this hermeneutically crafted Jew assumed distinctive character and power in Christian thought and culture.Augustine's doctrine of Jewish witness, which constructed the Jews so as to mandate their survival in a properly ordered Christian world, is the starting point for this illuminating study. Cohen demonstrates how adaptations of this doctrine reflected change in the self-consciousness of early medieval civilization. After exploring the effect of twelfth-century Europe's encounter with Islam on the value of Augustine's Jewish witnesses, he concludes with a new assessment of the reception of Augustine's ideas among thirteenth-century popes and friars.Consistently linking the medieval idea of the Jew with broader issues of textual criticism, anthropology, and the philosophy of history, this book demonstrates the complex significance of Christianity's "hermeneutical Jew" not only in the history of antisemitism but also in the broad scope of Western intellectual history.

    The study places Richard in Europe, the Mediterranean and Palestine and demonstrates that few rulers had more enemies or more influence. The paperback edition includes an updated bibliography.

    Unlike the rulers of many other Chinese dynasties, however, the Sung emperors were not plagued by challenges to their rule from their relatives. So successful was Sung policy on the imperial clan that it would serve as a model for the subsequent Ming and Ch'ing dynasties. How the Sung created a social and political asset in the imperial clan while neutralizing it as a potential threat is the story of this book. This study of the imperial clan as an institution analyzes the history, its political tile and the lifestyle of its members, focusing on their residence patterns, marriages and occupations.

    From the earliest of Georges Melies's films in 1897, to a 1996 animated Hunchback of Notre Dame, film has offered not just fantasy but exploration of these roles so vital to the modern psyche. St. Joan has undergone the transition from peasant girl to self-assured saint, and Camelot has transcended the soundstage to evoke the Kennedys in the White House. Here is the first comprehensive survey of more than 900 cinematic depictions of the European Middle Ages--date of production, country of origin, director, production company, cast, and a synopsis and commentary. A bibliography, index, and over 100 stills complete this remarkable work.

    In taking inspiration from the methodology of historical research developed by Foucault, the book places the intellectual achievements of the 13th century and, especially, Thomas Aquinas, in a larger cultural and institutional framework. Rosemann's analysis sees the scholastic tradition as the process of the gradual reinscription of the Greek intellectual heritage into the centre of Christian culture. This process culminated in the 13th century, when new intellectual techniques facilitated the creation of a culture of dialogue. Rosemann argues that the witch hunt can be seen as the result of a subtle but crucial transformation of the scholastic episteme.

    This book takes a new look at the issue, investigating the extent to which Scottish men of letters of the period identified the Scottish kingdom and its inhabitants with Ireland, and exploring the function of the kingdom's Irish identity.Dr Broun argues that a perceived historical link with Ireland was a fundamental feature of the kingdom's identity throughout the period, and discusses the beginnings of a Scottish national identity in the 1290s and early 1300s. His evidence is based on a thorough examination of accounts of Scottish origins, the royal genealogy, and regnal lists, which articulated perceptions of the kingdom's identity; included are new editions of the origin-legend material in Book I of Fordun's Chronica Gentis Scottorum; hitherto unknown witnesses of Scottish king-lists; and texts of the royal genealogy.Dr Dauvit Broun is lecturer in Scottish history at the University of Glasgow.

    It was among the most important Christian centres in Europe, having several great monasteries, most famously at Lindisfarne and Wearmouth-Jarrow. This work presents new insights based on the latest documentary research and archaeological discoveries, including an examination of the work of Bede and the nature of the Northumbrian Church and its relationships with regions elsewhere in the British Isles, Ireland and Western Europe.

    Columba - and the legacy of the man and his monasteries in Scotland and throughout the world. There is a great deal of new research, in chapters for example on the cult of saints in Scotland, the origins of Scottish identity, Columba's biographer Adomnan, and Columba on Iona. Scholarly but highly readable, this book is accessible to anyone interested in Columba, Celtic Christianity and Scottish history in general.

    At the same time, the meaning of its antonym, tresoun, began to move from personal betrayal to a crime against the state. In A Crisis of Truth, Richard Firth Green contends that these alterations in meaning were closely linked to a growing emphasis on the written over the spoken and to the simultaneous reshaping of legal thought and practice.According to Green, the rapid spread of vernacular literacy in the England of Richard II was driven in large part by the bureaucratic and legal demands of an increasingly authoritarian central government. The change brought with it a fundamental shift toward the attitudes we still hold about the nature of evidence and proof--a move from a truth that resides almost exclusively in people to one that relies heavily on documents.Green's magisterial study presents law and literature as two parallel discourses that have, at times, converged and influenced each other. Ranging deeply and widely over a huge body of legal and literary materials, from Anglo-Saxon England to twentieth-century Africa, it will provide a rich source of information for literary, legal, and historical scholars.

    This book comprises ten key articles on the Counter-Reformation, introduced and contextualized for the student reader.

    The 18 essays cover facts, testimony, and ritual; Christian eschatology and thanatology; miracles, conversions, and transmutations sub specie aeternitatis; late Medieval poetry and drama on death; and late Medieval iconography on the art of death. Specific topics include the doctor, Aquinas' dilemma about knowledge after death, and women saints as helpers in dying.

    Amongst the women featured are nuns, brewers, widows, witches, and wives of ministers of the kirk.

    In one sense, this story begins in 591 A.D., when the Irish monk Columbanus and his followers traveled to France, where they ultimately founded monasteries at Annegray, Luxeuil, Fontaine, Breganz, and Bobbio and helped set the stage for the Carolingian Renaissance. In a real sense, however, it was the Celtic heritage of the early Irish emigres--which survived the Roman conquest and the barbarian invasions--that made the Irish so sought after and influential among the courts of Europe. Messrs. Culligan and Cherici examine the Celtic heritage at considerable length at the outset of the volume before turning their attention to the other principal variable that influenced the Irish exodus, the English repression of the Irish in the late Middle Ages and again in the 1600s. Many of these Irish, who possessed a variety of skills, would enter the mainstream of a number of European societies, some of them becoming leaders in their respective fields. The authors devote separate chapters to the areas of Europe where the Irish had the most effect, which are roughly equivalent to the present-day nations of France, Spain, Portugal, and Austria, as well as discuss the Irish influence upon Eastern and Central Europe and the Papal States. Assembled after fifteen years of study in primary and secondary sources here and abroad and featuring interviews with descendants of Irish emigres and others in the know, The Wandering Irish in Europe fills an important gap in our knowledge of a great people and their impact beyond their borders.

    The Bible in question is not only the canonical text and its authoritative commentaries but also the Bible as experienced in sermon and liturgy, hymn and song, fresco and illumination, or even in the aphorisms of everyday speech.The Commedia took shape against the panorama of this divine narrative. In chapters devoted to Virgil and Ovid, the author explores strategies of allusion and citation, showing how Dante reinterprets these authors in the light of biblical revelation, correcting their vision and reorienting their understanding of history or human love. Dante finds his authority for making these interpretive moves in a "scriptural self" that is constructed over the course of the Commedia.That biblical selfhood enables him to choose among various classical and Christian traditions, to manipulate arguments and time lines, and to forge imaginary links between the ancient world and his own "modern uso." He rewrites Scripture by reactivating it, by writing it again. To the inspired parchments of the Old and New Testaments he boldly adds his own "testamental" postscript.

    . . . To anyone who doubted the survival of practical criticism in the current sea of theory, this book will come as a tonic."--Dolores Warwick Frese, University of Notre DameArguing from the evidence of extant manuscripts, Edward Condren describes the overall design of the Canterbury Tales--one of the most enigmatic puzzles in Chaucer studies--as a structural parallel to Dante’s Commedia. Through close analysis of the text, he shows how individual tales support this design and how the design itself confers rich meaning, in some instances investing with new complexity tales that otherwise have been little appreciated.Dividing its focus between the underlying unity of the poem as a whole and the discrete tales that create this unity, Chaucer and the Energy of Creation advances several startling interpretations—the progressive dislocation and displacement in Fragment I; a new claim for the unity of the "marriage group"; the survey of the poet’s literary career in Fragment VII; and the merging of Chaucer’s professional and spiritual lives at the end of the poem. Overall, Condren shows that the famous pilgrimage to Canterbury has three sections corresponding to Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. He maintains that Chaucer’s poem depicts human nature deriving its energy from the tension of equal and opposite forces and then resolving this tension in one of three ways, as illustrated in the poem’s three large sections. By converting Dante’s vertical, cosmic structure to a horizontal, earthly plane, Condren argues, Chaucer is able to portray human beings, rather than souls as in Dante, struggling between disintegration and transcencence.Chaucer and the Energy of Creation celebrates the Canterbury Tales as a work of literary art executed according to a unified plan. It is expressed in a voice that will remind readers of Donaldson’s close readings and unfolds with methods and arguments that belong to a tradition from Kittredge to the finest of the moderns.Edward I. Condren is professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles. His articles have appeared in the Chaucer Review, Viator, Philological Quarterly, Studies in English Literature, and elsewhere.

    Drawing on recent research, he examines the extent to which the Tudor government established lasting order, from its powerbase in London, throughout the British Isles. The book explores the themes of authority and disorder within the context of every level of society: the familiy, church, parish, law courts, nobility and the Tudor monarchy itself.

    Punctuation and paragraphing are added, along with an extensive glossary, and notes for students encountering the text for the first time. An introduction describes identities of characters and explains key episodes.