Le Grand Ferré : Premier héros paysan.
Colette Beaune (Auteur)

Until recently the “Grand Ferré” was known to everyone in the French schools. His story was part of the curriculum on the 100 years war, showcasing a brave man of morals, who – abandoned by the elite – showed the courage to defend his own. According to this story some peasants – thanks to the Herculean strength of Le Grand Ferré – succeeded to defeat the English mercenaries, who attacked their village to loot.

France at this time in history was marked by a series of terrible crises characterized by a particularly harsh climate, periods of hunger and starvation and the great plague. At the same time the king was a de facto prisoner of the English while the young regent was challenged by peasant uprisings. In the midst of reporting on all these calamities a mendicant friar born near Compiègne wrote the story down in 1360, thus securing the afterlife of a vibrant myth.

To find the truth behind this French “Robin Hood”, the historian Colette Beaune has conducted delved into the sources. The historian went on site in Picardy, where the popularity of the peasant is still intact. She tracked him down in the oldest archives of an abbey and followed the thread of his story until the 20^th century. Century after century The Grand Ferré has played an important part as the symbol par excellence of resistence, whether turned against feudal oppressors or German invaders.

Colette Beaune is Emeritus professor of medieval history at the University of Paris Ouest and Nanterre and a specialist in political history, women’s history and the history of art. She has received numerous prices. For all of her work, Colette Beaune has received the Grand Prix of the French Academy in history – the Grand Prix Gobert 2012.

Le Grand Ferré : Premier héros paysan.
By Colette Beaune
Broché: 386 pages
Editeur : Librairie Académique Perrin (14 mars 2013)
Langue : Français
ISBN-10: 2262028915
ISBN-13: 978-2262028916
€ 23.00

Charlemagne
By Jean Favier

Charlemagne is a man of a myth – successor to the Caesars he ended up influencing the history of France as well as wider Europe. In this new edition of biography on the grand scale Jean Favier paints a nuanced portrait, while tackling the problems of distinguishing between the myth and the reality.

First he places the man in his historical context and provides a portrait of a king directed towards one goal: the political end religious unity of Western Christendom. But he also touches upon the – perhaps – more mythical matters: his joy of Latin Poetry, his interest in schools and education etc. At 769 pages and written by one of France’s foremost historians, yet another portrait does not seem superfluous.

 

Charlemagne
By Jean Favier
Broché: 769 pages
Editeur : Editions Tallandier 2013. 1. edition 1999
Langue : Français
ISBN-13: 979-1021000810
EUR 12,26

 

Les comtes d’Artois et leurs archives : Histoire, mémoire et pouvoir au Moyen Age
[The Counts of Artois and their Archives: History, memory and Power in the Middle Ages] 
By Alain Provost et al

Preserved in the Departmental Archives of Pas-de-Calais, the Treasury charters Counts of Artois (XIII-XIV centuries) holds more than 10.000 documents. The vast wealth of information held in this archive is often overlooked. Studies gathered here focus on the creation and preservation of the many cartularies, surveys, accountbooks and delves more generally into the history of the counts and the County of Artois –the political society, the government and county government, the judicial and devotional practices plus the genealogical memory encapsulated in historical writings. The book is part of the current renewal of the history of writing practices.

By the diversity of topics and approaches, the book describes in detail the Counts of Artois archives as well as draws research perspectives. It will attract the attention of the scientific community on a documentary and provide exceptional public cultivated an important contribution to the knowledge of Artois in the Middle Ages and, more broadly, of the kingdom of France under the reign of the last Capetians.

Les comtes d’Artois et leurs archives : Histoire, mémoire et pouvoir au Moyen Age 
By Alain Provost et al
Broché: 180 pages
Publisher : Artois Presses Université 2013
Collection : Histoire
Langue : Français
ISBN-10: 2848321652
ISBN-13: 978-2848321653
€ 38.00

Dans le secret des Borgia : Journal du maître des cérémonies du pape Alexandre VI (1492-1503)
[The Secrets of the Borgias: Diary of the ceremonial master to Pope Alexandre VI (1492 – 1503)]
By Johannes Burchard. Translated by Joseph Turmel, Vito Castiglione Minischetti and Ivan Cloulas

The Borgia family, during the pontificate of Alexander (1492-1503)is central to the writings in the diary of Johannes Burchard (1450-1506), who was master of ceremonies at the Vatican from 1483 to his death. In it he carefully noted the pomp and circumstances of this family, which reached the summit of temporal and spiritual power. Her we can read about bodies recovered in the Tiber, cardinals troubled by courtesans, obscene Roman Carnival masks, fighting bulls in the square in front of St. Peter, and a banquet where fifty courtesans were presented to the Vatican in the presence of the pontiff. Ivan Cloulas and Vito Castiglione Minischetti have chosen and commented on the most significant passages of the text, delivering a fascinating chronicle. With more than 1500 pages and in Latin the text is here made available in shorter version and in French.

Here the reader may discover the true source to the legend about the foibles and intelligence of Alexander VI, the marital woes of Lucrecia, the murder of Juan, Duke of Gandia and the brutality and the genius of Caesar, the “Prince” of Machiavelli.

Ivan Cloulas is a historian specializing in the Renaissance and the Borgia family, who has already drawn a faithful portrait of one of the members in the book on Cesare Borgia (Tallandier, 2005). Vito Castiglione Minischetti is curator at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. He is the author of the Commentaries of Pius II under the title Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope.

Dans le secret des Borgia : Journal du maître des cérémonies du pape Alexandre VI (1492-1503)
Johannes Burkhard.Translated by Joseph Turmel, Vito Castiglione Minischetti and Ivan Cloulas
Paperback: 516 pages
Publisher: Tallandier (7 March 2013)
Language: French
ISBN-10: 2847349626
ISBN-13: 978-2847349627
€ 24.90

Authentique cuisine du Moyen Age
[Authentic French Cooking from the Middle Ages]
By Françoise de Montmollin

For several years volunteer at the site of Guédelon – the French project to rebuild an original French Castle – Françoise de Montmollin has been the cook at the castle since 2009. In this book she presents the results of her research into the workings of medieval cooking. Illustrations are by François Folcher, who is a professional photographer who has followed since the beginning of the construction site of the castle of Guédelon.

Authentique cuisine du Moyen Age
Françoise de Montmollin
Ouest-France 2013
Langue : Français
ISBN-10: 2737360706
ISBN-13: 978-2737360701
€ 24.00

Archéologie et histoire du fleuve Charente : Taillebourg – Port d’Envaux : une zone portuaire du haut Moyen Age sur le fleuve Charente
[Archaeology and history of the River Charente: Tailleboourg – Port d’Envaux: A port from the High Middle Ages at the river Charente]
By Annie Dumont, Jean-François Mariotti et al.

The book is published in connection with a comprehensive research project, which aims to study the site Taillebourg – Port Envaux (Charente-Maritime). This archaeological deposit contains numerous witnesses related to activities at the Charente river (boats, dams, fish furniture, agricultural tools, etc..), dated mainly from the Merovingian and Carolingian periods.

The research conducted on this complex site have been based on the principle that one cannot separate the remains discovered under water with what is found further inland in the valley on the floodplain. To carry out this program, various sources of information – geophysical, bathymetric and underwater analysis of the archaeological map of the banks – have been conducted. This has been enhanced with and accompanying study of archaeological finds plus research into old maps and plans. This diachronic and interdisciplinary approach has renewed the knowledge of the evolution of a portion of the river between Saintes and the estuary. It provides understanding a medieval port area, rarely studied.

Archéologie et histoire du fleuve Charente : Taillebourg – Port d’Envaux : une zone portuaire du haut Moyen Age sur le fleuve Charente
[Archaeology and history of the River Charente: Tailleboourg – Port d’Envaux: A port from the High Middle Ages at the river Charente]
By Annie Dumont, Jean-François Mariotti et al.
Hardback: 350 pages
Editions Universitaires de Dijon 2013
Langue : Français
ISBN-10: 2364410339
ISBN-13: 978-2364410336
€40

Deux chefs de guerre au Moyen-Age
[Two Medieval Warlords]

Jean de Vienne, admiral of France, and Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable, were as different as two major warlords can be, although they sometimes fought together during the Hundred Years War. However, while Bertrand du Guesclin, achieved a reputation as a great general, which still lingers in the French imagination, the admiral Jean de Vienne is virtually unknown.

And yet, du Guesclin would probably not have been able to achieve his glorious success against the English if Jean de Vienne had not won the supremacy over the English Channel. The author of this double biography asks the question whether it is legitimate to ignore the admiral who was the first to organize a real fleet of war for the kingdom of France?

History ended up glorifying Bertrand du Guesclin and ignoring Jean de Vienne. Now is the time to restore the memory of jean de Vienne who should be considered as the first founder of what became the Royal and our Navy.

Deux chefs de guerre au Moyen-Age
By Jacques D. de Certaines
Hardback: 224 pages
Publisher : APOGEE 2013
Language : Français
ISBN-10: 2843984289
ISBN-13: 978-2843984280
€ 17.10

Maîtres et élèves au Moyen Age
[Teachers and Students in the Middle Ages]

“We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants”. This “bon mots” was famousy formulated by Bernard of Chartres in the twelfth century, when he described the situation of the clergy of his time. Crushed by the weight of the legacy of the ancients, all their efforts were on to restore and master.

Written by two leading experts, this story of teachers and students in the medieval West shows how to succeed at the time of cathedrals and monastic schools as well as at one of the most brilliant medieval revivals, the universities. These new institutions created the possibility for a wide the expansion of public teaching. The book delves into the lives of both teachers and students, describing the constraints on their aspirations and recalling what guided their work. Students and teachers shared the same requirements of high spirituality and the same insatiable curiosity.

Pierre Riché is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Paris X Nanterre.

Jacques Verger is a professor of cultural history from the Middle Ages at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne.

Maîtres et élèves au Moyen Age
By Pierre Riché and Jacques verger
Publisher: Fayard / Plural (13 March 2013)
Language: French
ISBN-10: 2818503329
ISBN-13: 978-2818503324
£8.55