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Leisure in the Middle Ages
Publisher
:
Tallandier
Parution date
:
2003
EAN
:
9782847340471
Description
From the bottom of the social ladder to the top and from the city to the countryside, people in the Middle Ages practiced a wide variety of distractions. Noblemen hunted, attended feasts and parties at courts and tournaments, read and played music. Peasants on the other hand and even priests participated in numerous activities mostly linked to religion. For example the celebration of Lent lasted several days and was supervised by the Church to limit excesses and prevent pagan outbursts. Both worlds had drinking and the practice of sports in common even if it was a different sport according to their rank.
The subject of leisure in the Middle Ages was never studied before in the form of a thorough and readable synthesis like Les Loisirs au Moyen Age. This colorful and rich investigation into the lives of the men and women of the time shows us a society that knew how to compensate for the brutality and harshness of their daily work with imagination, mental health and energy. With nuances reflecting regional differences and periods of time through out the Middle Ages, as well as lively documents, Jean Verdon unveils a fairly unknown part of man’s history and by doing so produces a major work in the study of the Middle Ages.
Author
Jean Verdon : An Emeritus professor, Jean Verdon is the specialist of the Middle Ages. He is the author of numerous books. Those translated into English include, Night in the Middle Ages (Notre Dame, 2002) and Travel in the Middle Ages (forthcoming Notre Dame, 2003)
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