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Midsummer (Hardcover)
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Midsummer (Hardcover)
Series: Medieval texts & cultures of Northern Europe, 3
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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This book is based on fresh and original research from archives in
France and the Low Countries, concerning customs and beliefs
practised around the midsummer solstice. The information has never
previously been considered and it reveals a festive treatment of
divisiveness, which might also be politically engaged. The book
shows how in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries these traditions
were not solely observed by the lower classes. A study of texts
throughout the Middle Ages shows that the significance of St John's
Day was a valued source for some major writers, and it can be
argued that it was even the rationale for works such as Chretien's
Yvain, and the anonymous Perlesvaus. The midsummer customs also
appear in the civic records of Leuven and Metz, in periods where
the city authorities were strong enough to break free of feudal
controls. Their civic freedom was expressed at the Feast of the
Baptist's Nativity, and this appropriation by the bourgeoisie
informs the romance, Galeran. The rationale of Midsummer is to
examine the disparate, but interlinked uses of the customs, and to
bring to the awareness of scholars festive influences current in
Europe before the better known influence of Carnival; also to
discuss their seminal importance for early fiction and for the
theatre. The book further reveals that pre-Christian belief in
Chance / Fortune was supported by the phenomenon of the Solstice
and that John the Baptist's Nativity, placed on 24 June, provided a
way for Christian Fathers to allow for this, safely. Sandra
Billington is a Reader at the University of Glasgow.]
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