Blood and Violence in Early Modern France

by Stuart Carroll

Overview

French manners and civility were the model for European civilization, while feud is associated with backward societies. Yet in France thousands of men died in duels in which the supposed rules of honour were regularly flouted. In this detailed and original book Stuart Carroll explores the nature of vengeance and reveals the dark side of Renaissance civilization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199290451
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/26/2006
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 6.54(h) x 1.07(d)

About the Author

University of York

Table of Contents

IntroductionPart I: The Structure of Vindicatory Violence1. The Origins of Dispute - Blood and Earth2. The Origins of Dispute - Status and Honour3. Honours and Prerogatives4. Escalation: From Verbal Duel to Vindicatory Exchange5. Conspiracy6. Combat7. The Rage of the GodsPart II: Violence and Society8. Justice and the Law9. Peace10. Women, Sex, and Vindicatory ViolencePart III: Violence and the Polity11. The Crisis of the Religious Wars12. Violence and Royal Authority in the Seventeenth Century13. SolutionsConclusionBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Blood and Violence in Early Modern France...is a close and deep examination of vindicatory violence among France's nobles from the late Middle Ages to the mid-seventeenth century....Carroll contributes greatly to our understanding of the nature of violence in the early modern years and forces us to think deeply about influential models."—Journal of Modern History

"Stuart Carroll's research provides a powerful corrective to the notion that a contralizing 'absolutist' state effectively marginalized noble violence and pushed it to the peripheries of the kingdom in the early modern period. This book provides ample evidence of vindicatory violence throughout the extensive jurisdiction of the parlement de Paris, even within the central region of Ile-de-France. Blood and Violence in Early Modern France contributes to the growing historical literature critiquing 'absolutist' historiography by re-examining French politics and violence from new perspectives."—Brian Sandberg, Journal of Social History

From the Publisher