Overview

Introducing the Medieval Ass presents a lucid, accessible, and comprehensive picture of the enormous socioeconomic and cultural significance of the ass, or donkey, in the Middle Ages and beyond. In medieval times, the ass was a vital, utilitarian beast of burden, rather like ubiquitous white delivery vans today. At the same time, however, the ass had a rich, paradoxical reputation. Its hard work was praised but its obstinacy condemned. It exemplified the good Christian, humbly bearing Christ to Jerusalem, but also represented sloth, a mortal sin. It had a potent sexual reputation—in one literary work, an ass had sex with a woman—even as it was simultaneously linked to sterility. Over time, the ass also became synonymous with human idiocy, a comic figure representing foolish peasants, students too dull to learn, and their asinine teachers. This trope of foolishness was so prevalent that by the eighteenth century the word “ass” began to be replaced by “donkey.” Introducing the Medieval Ass offers a wide-ranging account of the importance, and often surprising cultural prevalence, of this common domesticated animal.  

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9781786836229

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A must read for anyone with an interest in medieval history and/or asses! * The Birdbooker Report *

A must read for anyone with an interest in medieval history and/or asses! * The Birdbooker Report * ""Reliably-researched and well-written presentations of iconic animals as they were understood – both as creatures in and of themselves, and as metaphors, characters, and in other representative forms – by the people of the Middle Ages."" * The Well-Read Naturalist *

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Introducing the Medieval Ass is written as an introduction as such its remit is to reach both the scholar and the interested lay reader. This book will appeal to a variety of readerships by presenting a fascinating topic in an accessible and lucid manner which educates, entertains, and enthrals exactly as medieval asses did through their presence in encyclopaedias, religious and philosophical texts, and humorous and satirical tales.

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