The Medieval Gift and the Classical Tradition : Ideals and the Performance of Generosity in Medieval England, 1100-1300 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series)

Kjær, Lars

Cambridge University Press（2020/08発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 235 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781108439329
• DDC分類 394

Full Description

This interdisciplinary study explores how classical ideals of generosity influenced the writing and practice of gift giving in medieval Europe. In assuming that medieval gift giving was shaped by oral 'folk models', historians have traditionally followed in the footsteps of social anthropologists and sociologists such as Marcel Mauss and Pierre Bourdieu. This first in-depth investigation into the influence of the classical ideals of generosity and gift giving in medieval Europe reveals to the contrary how historians have underestimated the impact of classical literature and philosophy on medieval culture and ritual. Focusing on the idea of the gift expounded in the classical texts read most widely in the Middle Ages, including Seneca the Younger's De beneficiis and Cicero's De officiis, Lars Kjær investigates how these ideas were received, adapted and utilised by medieval writers across a range of genres, and how they influenced the practice of generosity.

Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The gift in classical literature; 3. De Beneficiis in medieval contexts; 4. Writing generosity; 5. Sanctifying generosity; 6. Romancing generosity; 7. Performing generosity; Conclusion.