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Description edit
In The Axe and the Oath , one of the world's leading medieval historians presents a compelling picture of daily life in the Middle Ages as it was experienced by ordinary people. Writing for general readers, Robert Fossier vividly describes how these vulnerable people confronted life, from... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Quotes edit
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“...the man about whom I will speak is neither a knight nor a monk; he is not a bishop or a 'great man,' neither is he a bourgeois, a merchant, a lord, or a man of letters. He is a man worried about the rain and the wolf, concerned about wine, his strongbox, the fetus, fire, the axe, the neighbors, sworn oaths, salvation....Thus no economic expose will be found here, no chart of technical achievements, no class struggle: just a poor everyday man.”
First Sentence edit
I want to ask the reader — and I admit that this is a difficult exercise — to leave aside for the moment all traditional schemas and try to describe and evaluate the human being.
Table of Contents edit
Preface
Part One: Man and the World
Chapter 1: Naked Man
A Fragile Creature
- An Ungainly Being
- Fairly Content with HImself
- But Are There Nonetheless Nuances?
But a Threatened Creature
- Does Man Really Know Himself?
- "Abnormal" Assaults on Man
- The Illness That Lies in Wait
- The Black Death
- Can Those Men Be Counted?
Chapter 2: The Ages of Life
From the Child to the Man
- Expecting a Baby
- When the Child Arrives
- "Childhoods"
- The Child in the Midst of the Family
Man in HIs Private Life
- As Time Goes By
- Nourishing the Body
- The Shaping of Taste
- Adorning the Body
Man, Woman, and the Others
- The Two Sexes Face-to-Face
- Sexual Concerns
- Living by the Fire and by the Pot
- The Chains of Marriage
- ...And Their Locks
- Kin
- ...And "Relations"
The Workplace
- The House
- ...And What Was Found in the House
- Man Is Born to Toil
- But What Work?
- And Tools?
The End of Life
- The Elderly
- The "Passage"
- After Death
Chapter 3: Nature
The Weather
- The Paleo-Environment
- What Did They See or Feel?
Fire and Water
- Fire, the Symbol of Life and Death
- Saving and Beneficent Water
- The Sea, Horrible and a Temptress
The Products of the Earth
- Mastering the Soil
- Making the Earth Render
- Grasses and Vines
The Trees and the Forest
- The Forest, Overwhelming and Sacred
- The Forest, Necessary and Nourishing
- And the People of the Forest?
Chapter 4: And the Animals?
Man and Beast
- Fear and Disgust
- Respect and Affection
Knowing and Understanding
- What Are the Beasts?
- Penetrating This World
Utilize and Destroy
- The Services of the Beast
- Killing: Man's Job
- A Contrasting Balance Sheet
Part Two: Man in Himself
Chapter 5: Man in Himself
Living in a Group
- Why Come Together?
- How to Assemble?
- Where to Gather?
- Laughter and Games
Precautions and Deviations
- Order and the "Orders"
- Peace and Honor
- Law and Power
- Gaps
- And People from Elsewhere
Chapter 6: Knowledge
The Innate
- Memory
- The Imaginary
- Measurement
Acquisitions
-Act, Image, Word
- Writing
- What to Learn?
- And Where
Expression
- Who Wrote and What Did They Write?
- For Whom and Why Did Authors Write?
- The Artist's Part
Chapter 7: And the Soul
Good and Evil
- The End of Dualism
- Virtue and Temptation
- Sin and Pardon
Faith and Salvation
- Dogma and the Rites of Medieval Christian Faith
- The Church
- The Other World
Conclusion
Authors & Contributors edit
- Robert Fossier (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Lydia G. Cochrane (Translator)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 400
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 940.1
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