This volume examines the treatment and expression of love in medieval literature and art. These nineteen essays, contributed by recognized authorities on medieval romantic expression, consider a wide variety of texts from the following cultures: French, Arabic, Latin, Hispanic, Hebrew, Provencal, and German. Teachers and students of medieval literature will find in this well-researched book cogent, contemporary analyses of written expressions of love in the Middle Ages.

This volume examines the treatment and expression of love in medieval literature and art. These nineteen essays, contributed by recognized authorities on medieval romantic expression, consider a wide variety of texts from the following cultures: French, Arabic, Latin, Hispanic, Hebrew, Provencal, and German. Teachers and students of medieval literature will find in this well-researched book cogent, contemporary analyses of written expressions of love in the Middle Ages.

A translation of the 1972 French analysis of the dynamics of textual production in the Middle Ages that marked a major shift in scholarly discourse about medieval literature. Integrating the tools of linguistics and textual criticism, does not come to conclusions, but proposes approaches and methods for investigation. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The author explores the work of fourteenth-century writers who discussed the intellectual implications of the religious idea of Incarnation in poetical and rhetorical forms. The book then goes on to discuss how the Incarnation of Christ allowed writers to meditate on the nature of language and form.

"An accurate, elegant rendering of major late-medieval texts, crucial to our understanding of the courtly tradition and of Chaucer. Ideal for classroom use."--William Calin, University of Florida "Elegant and graceful translations of the most important authors of the late Middle Ages; each work brings a new take on the topic of love. A superb resource for students and scholars in comparative literature and medieval studies."--Wendy Pfeffer, University of Louisville This very first anthology of medieval love debate poems--comprising five masterpieces of the genre--explores the many compelling mysteries raised by the experience of romantic love. Some have been translated into modern English for the first time. With wit, ingenuity, and humor, these poems suggest intriguing answers to what contemporary inquirers would call questions of gender and sexual politics: Who loves better, men or women? Are men or women more faithful in love? Are women obligated to reciprocate the attentions of an ardent male? What qualities in a lover do women most desire? The contributors provide a foundation for the love debate genre and medieval literary treatments of love, as well as pertinent facts of literary history and biographical details about the poets, whose work spans more than 100 years. The volume features works that have been recognized for centuries as central texts of the medieval tradition: Christine de Pizan's Debate of the Two Lovers, Alain Chartier's Debate of the Four Ladies, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women, and Guillaume de Machaut's Judgment of the King of Bohemia and Judgment of the King of Navarre. Each translation is appropriately annotated for student use. R. Barton Palmer is Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson University. Barbara K. Altmann is associate professor of French at the University of Oregon.

This selection of extracts and inscriptions from medieval poems and songs, romances and chansons, rings and brooches is illustrated with images drawn from a wide range of beautiful objects and illuminated manuscripts in the rich collections of the British Museum and the British Library.