Overview

How different are we from those in the past? Or, how different do we think we are from those in the past? Medieval people were more dirty and unhygienic than us – as novels, TV, and film would have us believe – but how much truth is there in this notion? This book seeks to challenge some of these preconceptions by examining medieval society through rules of conduct, and specifically through the lens of a medieval Latin text entitled The Book of the Civilised Man – or Urbanus magnus – which is attributed to Daniel of Beccles. Urbanus magnus is a twelfth-century poem of almost 3,000 lines which comprehensively surveys the day-to-day life of medieval society, including issues such as moral behaviour, friendship, marriage, hospitality, table manners, and diet. Currently, it is a neglected source for the social and cultural history of daily life in medieval England, but by incorporating modern ideas of disgust and taboo, and merging anthropology, sociology, and archaeology with history, this book aims to bring it to the fore, and to show that medieval people did have standards of behaviour. Although they may seem remote to modern ‘civilised’ people, there is both continuity and change in human behaviour throughout the centuries.

Full Product Details

Author:   Fiona Whelan
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.476kg
ISBN:  

9781138696297

ISBN 10:   1138696293
Pages:   244
Publication Date:   09 January 2017
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Illustrations Acknowledgements Abbreviations Manuscript Sigla Introduction Chapter 1. The Background to Urbanus Magnus Content Introduction to the Manuscripts Composition Authorship Chapter 2. Genre and Urbanus Magnus Scholarship on Urbanus Magnus The Genre of Courtesy Literature The Origins of Courtesy Literature Other Sources Chapter 3. The Manuscript Evidence Twelfth-Century Satire An Educational Tool Religious Use A Medical Text Chapter 4. Introduction to Themes Chapter 5. The Medieval Household and Beyond Administering the Household Householder, Home, and Hospitality Children and Wives Staff and Servants Outside the Household Social Mobility and Appropriate Courtesy Chapter 6. The Medieval Body in Urbanus Magnus Bodily Moderation and Restraint Speech and Laughter Bodily Vices The Body and Sex Bodily Emissions Disgust Chapter 7. Medieval Dining and Diet The Archaeological Evidence The Medieval Meal Preparation and Consumption Manners Continuity and Change Diet and Health Chapter 8. New Interpretations The Impetus for and Precursors to Urbanus Magnus Origins Social Habitus The Court of Henry II ‘A Monument to Anxiety’ Use The Impact of Urbanus Magnus Conclusion Appendix: Contenances de table poems Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Fiona Whelan completed her DPhil in Medieval History at the University of Oxford in 2015, and has previously studied at Trinity College Dublin and University College London. She has published on manuscript dissemination and has contributed to the collection Transformations and Continuities in the Eleventh Century: The Archaeology of the Norman Conquest. She currently works for the University of Oxford and her research interests include the cultivation of norms of behaviour, food and diet in the medieval period, household administration, and the manuscript culture of early courtesy literature.

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