The masculine self in late medieval England / Derek G. Neal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neal, Derek G.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Masculinity--England--History--To 1500.

Masculinity.

Men--England--Social life and customs.

Men.

England--Social life and customs--1066-1485.

England.

England--Social conditions--1066-1485.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (318 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What did it mean to be a man in medieval England? Most would answer this question by alluding to the power and status men enjoyed in a patriarchal society, or they might refer to iconic images of chivalrous knights. While these popular ideas do have their roots in the history of the aristocracy, the experience of ordinary men was far more complicated. Marshalling a wide array of colorful evidence-including legal records, letters, medical sources, and the literature of the period-Derek G. Neal here plumbs the social and cultural significance of masculinity during the generations born between the Black Death and the Protestant Reformation. He discovers that social relations between men, founded on the ideals of honesty and self-restraint, were at least as important as their domination and control of women in defining their identities. By carefully exploring the social, physical, and psychological aspects of masculinity, The Masculine Self in Late Medieval England offers a uniquely comprehensive account of the exterior and interior lives of medieval men.

Contents:

False thieves and true men

Husbands and priests

Sex and gender : the meanings of the male body

Toward the private self : desire, masculinity, and middle English romance.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-294) and index.

ISBN:

9786612070082

9781282070080

1282070088

9780226569598

0226569594

OCLC:

435816537