Joan of Arc and Richard III: Sex, Saints and Government in the Middle Ages - Hardcover

Wood, Charles Tuttle

3.38

13 ratings by Goodreads

9780195040609: Joan of Arc and Richard III: Sex, Saints and Government in the Middle Ages

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195040600 ISBN 13: 9780195040609

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 1988

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Joan of Arc and Richard III loom large in the histories of their countries, but the myths surrounding them have always obscured just who they were and what they hoped to accomplish. In this book, medieval historian Charles Wood brings these fascinating figures to life through an original combination of traditional biography and wide-ranging discussion of the political and social world in which they lived. Wood draws on a range of unusual sources--from art and legal codes to chronicles and lives of saints--to present a new picture of medieval people and their concerns. Focusing on topics often neglected by other historians, he includes lively discussions of royal adultery scandals, child-kings and the problems they posed, and earlier people and crises that helped to shape the culture of sex and sainthood that was profoundly that of the Middle Ages. In so doing, he clarifies the historical contributions of Richard and Joan, and sheds new light on the political, social, and religious forces that shaped medieval government and made France and England such widely different countries.

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Review:

There are many reasons why Professor Wood's study of French and English history in the late Middle Ages is a notably satisfying book ... Wood has style, both in curiosity and diction, and fortunately he enjoys displaying it... These mature reflections are calculated to excite students and to provoke their teachers out of routine responses. C.M.D. Crowder, Speculum

Charles T. Wood ... is that rare thing among contemporary American medievalists, an academic gadfly, in the best sense of that term. Instead of taking the 'safe" route, Wood has... alternatively goaded and irked scholars into reconsidering received notions on a variety of (usually) controversial subjects. Joan of Arc and Richard III ... represent(s) Wood's original and provocative interpretation of English and French medieval history. ( George Stow, Albion )

Synopsis:

Joan of Arc and Richard III are prominent historical figures, but the myths surrounding them have always obscured their accomplishments. This study clarifies their historical contributions by combining traditional biography with original material on their social and political backgrounds.

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