Medieval cruelty : changing perceptions, late antiquity to the early modern period / Daniel Baraz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baraz, Daniel.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Conjunctions of religion & power in the medieval past

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cruelty--History.

Cruelty.

Civilization, Medieval.

History.

Europe--Social conditions--To 1492.

Europe--Social conditions--16th century.

Local Subjects:

Europe--Social conditions--To 1492.

Europe--Social conditions--16th century.

Physical Description:

xi, 225 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2003.

Summary:

The Middle Ages are often thought of as an era during which cruelty was a major aspect of life, a view that stems from the anti-Catholic polemics of the Reformation. Daniel Baraz makes the striking discovery that the concept of cruelty, which had been an important issue in late antiquity, received little attention in the medieval period before the thirteenth century. From that point on, interest in cruelty increased until it reached a peak late in the sixteenth century. Medieval Cruelty's extraordinary scope ranges from the writings of Seneca to those of Montaigne and draws from sources that include the views of Western Christians, Eastern Christians, and Muslims. Baraz examines the development of the concept of cruelty in legal texts, philosophical treatises, and other works that attempt to discuss the nature of cruelty. He then considers histories, martyrdom accounts, and literary works in which cruelty is represented rather than discussed directly. In the wake of the intellectual transformations of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, an increasing focus on the intentions motivating an individual's acts rekindled the discussion of cruelty. Baraz shows how ethical thought and practice about cruelty, which initially focused on external forces, became a tool to differentiate internal groups and justify violence against them. This process is evident in attacks on the Jews, in the peasant rebellions of the later Middle Ages, and in the Wars of Religion.

Contents:

Speculating on cruelty, theoretical discussions from Seneca to Montaigne

Late antiquity, the building blocks of a discourse

The early Middle Ages, an age of silence?

The central Middle Ages, a renaissance of cruelty

The late Middle Ages, manipulated images and structured emotions

The early modern period, cruelty transformed.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-219) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

0801438179

OCLC:

50783811