Description
Book SynopsisEnmity, a state or feeling of mutual opposition or hostility, became a major social problem during Europe's transition to modernity between 1500 and 1800. This book transforms our understanding of that process, exploring how ordinary people felt about their enemies, the violence it engendered and the solutions that helped create modern society.
Trade Review'Based on extensive research in several languages, this book is the first major study of enmity across western Europe in the early modern period. Stuart Carroll argues that enmity remains one of the greatest challenges to liberal democracy and, as such, the concept of enmity remains of central importance today. This book makes a direct challenge to our very understanding of early modern Europe and it is an original and significant contribution to the histories of the state, violence, the law, and emotions.' Jonathan Davies, University of Warwick
'… a seminal work of meticulous scholarship and solidly recommended addition to personal, community, college, and university library European History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.' James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review
'Stuart Carroll's latest book is testimony to a career of reading in multiple archives and languages. It vividly synthesises a large body of new historical scholarship into a coherent vision of the early modern obsession with justice, and the violent paths that people trod on their quests for it.' Colin Rose, Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Italy; 1. The use of the law; 2. The politics of vendetta; 3. The culture of vendetta; 4. The decline of vendetta; Germany; 5. Rethinking the feud; 6. The culture of enmity in Early Modern Germany; 7. Sühne: the theory and practice of peace-making; France; 8. Village politics and vendetta; 9. Peace and justice under the absolute monarchy; England; 10. Justice and violence; 11. Enmity in Early Modern England; Comparisons; 12. The experience of enmity; 13. Enmity and sacred space; 14. Living with the enemy.
