Tag Archives: Jean Froissart Chronicles

cervantes: spanish fathers and sons

In what sense was Spain, in the years of Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote a schizophrenic society? If we look closely, there is an answer… In Cervantes lifetime, Spain had two very different moods. They were the moods of two … Continue reading

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dark indeed, but were they happy?

The world of a thousand years ago. One thousand years ago our forebears lived in a “dark age.” They themselves did not believe it was that dark and they were only half wrong… The roofs of peasant cottages in the … Continue reading

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saint joan : from god’s mouth to the dauphin’s ear?

Born about 1412 to a devout peasant family, Joan was visited from childhood by her “voices.” Believing herself sent by God to drive the English from France, she set out in 1428 to gain the ear of the Dauphin. The … Continue reading

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joan on the stand: the eternal trial

Poor Joan of Arc. Her trial and execution were only the beginning. In the centuries since, the Maid has continued to provoke anger and adoration, skepticism and awe, part of what can be termed the fluctuations in Joan’s fame. Born … Continue reading

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saint joan or the devil

Joan of Arc’s meteoric career. A saint of God as the Armagnacs generally held, or a child of the Devil, a witch, or at best a brazen imposter? Her trial and execution were only the beginning. In the centuries since, … Continue reading

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collecting is only humanist

The great books of Greece and Rome were written down between 800 B.C. and A.D. 450. They were first printed and disseminated only after A.D. 1450. Once printed, they were likely to survive only because they were so good or … Continue reading

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dark shadows & high walls

A sanctuary for a dark age. When there was little law in the land, and robbers and brigands were at liberty in the wild, a man’s home was his castle… Taking in to account the enormous diffusion of castles in … Continue reading

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wild and wooly: oh effendi!

the Turks. The young turks,the old turks, they were all wild; from the quiet tranquility of the garden to the live action slicing and dicing of the human body, there was rarely a dull moment in the Ottoman Turkish empire. … Continue reading

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peasant revolt

Is the use of the word “peasant” a pejorative meaning an insulting, derogatory remark?…. In a pejorative sense the term was first applied by the Spanish colonialists to the religious practices of rural indigenous peoples.It was derogatorily applied due to … Continue reading

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black plague & neurotic gloom: no belief no deny

Skepticism and timorous uncertainty marked the second half of the fourteenth century.The generation that survived the plague could not believe, but did not dare deny. It groped toward the future, with one nervous eye always peering over its shoulder toward … Continue reading

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