The Book of the Knight of the Tower Manners for Young Medieval Women

by Barnhouse, Rebecca

• ISBN13: 9781403969910
• ISBN10: 1403969914
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-11
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The Book of Knight of the Tower explores knightly stories of medieval manners. It is a commentary on what people wore, how they prayed, what they hoped for in this life and the next. These stories range from the shockingly bawdy to the deeply pious, and often end with morals about the ways women can avoid "blame, shame, and defame". In this beautifully written book we learn what was important to aristocrats and the upper middle classes in the middle ages.

Author Biography

Rebecca Barnhouse is Associate Professor, Youngstown State University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Acknowledgments	vii
Part I The Knight and His Book
The World of the Book	3	(24)
Shining Knights and Ladies Fair---Sir Geoffrey and His Family	3	(5)
I Wanted to Make Them a Little Book---Sir Geoffrey's Manuscript for His Daughters	8	(2)
Begun and Finished in One Day---William Caxton's Version	10	(3)
Medieval Bestsellers---Books of Courtesy and Instruction	13	(8)
The Retelling	21	(6)
Part II The Book of the Knight of the Tower
The Prologues	27	(12)
Because I am Ignorant---Caxton's Prologue	27	(4)
Blame, Shame, and Defame---Sir Geoffrey's Prologue	31	(8)
Turn Your Hearts to God---Prayer	39	(14)
Driving the Devil Out---Fasting and Confessing Your Sins	53	(12)
A Full Belly Will Never Be Devout---Fasting	53	(6)
Black Spots on a Silver Plate---Confessing Your Sins	59	(6)
Hearing God's Service---Going to Mass	65	(10)
Taming the Sparrowhawk---Manners and Marriage	75	(10)
Obey Without Complaint---Being a Wife	85	(16)
Beat Them When They Deserve It---Raising Children	101	(14)
I Tell You, I Must Have It---Medieval Fashion	115	(18)
Hearts Set on This World---Acting Fashionably	133	(22)
Chide to This Wisp of Straw---Arguing	135	(7)
When the Dancing and Singing Begins---Jousts and Feasts	142	(8)
Not for Fun, but for Devotion---Pilgrimages	150	(5)
As Fire Kindles Straw---Love and Its Games	155	(20)
The Devil's Subtle Craft---Vice and Sin	175	(20)
Listening to the Serpent---The Nine Follies of Eve	176	(3)
Juggling Coal into Beauty---Flattery	179	(1)
Like a Toad on the Heart---Anger	180	(2)
Gold, the Devil's Servant---Greed	182	(4)
Living like a Beast---Gluttony	186	(2)
Joined like a Dog to a Bitch---Lechery	188	(7)
True Women and Good Ladies---Virtuous Living	195	(18)
Good Ladies of the Present Time	206	(7)
Praising Past Time	213	(12)
Caxton's Epilogue	223	(2)
Notes	225	(14)
Bibliography	239	(6)
Index	245