Description
Book SynopsisThe Middle Ages are often thought of as an era during which cruelty was a major aspect of life, a view that stems from the anti-Catholic polemics of the Reformation. Daniel Baraz makes the striking discovery that the concept of cruelty, which had been...
Trade ReviewThe ambiguity of cruelty, whereby it might be used both to excoriate the torturer and glorify the martyr, to demonize the criminal and justify the law, or to explain why the English were superior to the French, is also nicely brought out. Here, then, is a useful lesson in the immense difficulties, as well as in the valuable rewards that come from asking the right questions, in dealing with the elusive history of ideas.
* Virginia Quarterly Review *
For Baraz, the treatment of cruelty is a cultural issue and must be considered apart from the actual practice of violence.... His argument is sound and thoroughly convincing. Because he carefully provides the historical context for each episode that he discusses, Medieval Cruelty is suitable both for general readers and experts.
-- David S. Sefton, Eastern Kentucky University * History *
An important and imaginative study in intellectual history, this book informs us about the use of a powerful concept over centuries and simultaneously warns against easy assumptions about correspondence between text and context.
-- Richard W. Kaeuper, University of Rochester * American Historical Review *
