A high-stakes wager placed on a woman's virtue; men who spy on bathing women; tell-tale birthmarks; cross-dressing; dragons; tournaments; and aristocrats bursting into song--these features and more appear in the three stories translated here, all versions of the folktale known as "the wager tale." Such stories were especially popular in thirteenth-century France, when noblemen fulfilled their feudal duties far from home. Did their women remain faithful? A pressing question, for only female chastity guaranteed the legitimacy of heirs. This collection offers the first translations into English of The Romance of the Violet and The Count of Poitiers, along with a new version of The Tale of King Flore and the Fair Joan. The first paints a vivid portrait of thirteenth-century courtly life. The second, set in the eighth-century court of King Pepin, includes both a wager tale and a bride quest, the latter involving a shocking scene of female group nudity. Flore and Joan takes a different tack, presenting a clear-eyed heroine who overcomes daunting odds by posing as a man. These medieval tales portray strong women who gainsay social control of their bodies, thereby winning the respect of men--a scenario that resonates even today.

First published in 1995, Medieval France: An Encyclopedia is the first single-volume reference work on the history and culture of medieval France. It covers the political, intellectual, literary, and musical history of the country from the early fifth to the late fifteenth century. The shorter entries offer succinct summaries of the lives of individuals, events, works, cities, monuments, and other important subjects, followed by essential bibliographies. Longer essay-length articles provide interpretive comments about significant institutions and important periods or events. The Encyclopedia is thoroughly cross-referenced and includes a generous selection of illustrations, maps, charts, and genealogies. It is especially strong in its coverage of economic issues, women, music, religion and literature. This comprehensive work of over 2,400 entries will be of key interest to students and scholars, as well as general readers.

A detailed study of the stories dramatised in Europe before 1500.

This is the first monograph to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the Decameron's response to classical and medieval didactic traditions. Olivia Holmes unearths the rich variety of Boccaccio's sources, ranging across Aesopic fables, narrative collections of Islamicate origin, sermon-stories and saints' lives, and compilations of historical anecdotes. Examining the Decameron's sceptical and sexually permissive contents in relation to medieval notions of narrative exemplarity, the study also considers how they intersect with current critical assertions of fiction's power to develop empathy and emotional intelligence. Holmes argues that Boccaccio provides readers with the opportunity to exercise both what the ancients called 'Ethics,' and our contemporaries call 'Theory of Mind.' This account of a vast tradition of tale collections and its provocative analysis of their workings will appeal to scholars of Italian literature and medieval studies, as well as to readers interested in evolutionary understandings of storytelling.