Violence in Medieval Courtly Literature ― A Casebook

American scholars of literature in various European languages and of history and theology, describe examples of violence depicted in medieval courtly literature. Their topics include authority, violence, and the sacred at the medieval court; comparing violence in German heroic and courtly epics; Wolfram von Eschenback's perspectives on violence at King Arthur's court; violence and communication in Shota Rustaveli's The Lord of the Panther-Skin; constructive and destructive violence in Jean d'Arras' Roman de Melusine; violent magic in Middle English romance; violence and the fragmented body in Christine de Pizan's prose letters, and the Spanish chivalric romance. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Albrecht Classen is Professor of German at the University of Arizona. He is editor of The Book and the Magic of Reading in the Middle Ages and Meeting the Foreign in the Middle Ages, both published by Routledge.