'Between France and England' characterises the role played by most rulers of the duchy of Brittany during the late Middle Ages, before it was finally united with Valois France. These essays (including three appearing for the first time in English) explore political and institutional aspects of the changing relationship between France and Brittany, within the context of Anglo-French relations, as well as social consequences of the development of a largely autonomous state within the larger French kingdom during a period dominated by war and economic crisis. The transformation of medieval France into an early modern state changed the traditional relationship between the king and his great feudal princes. But some princes reacted by imitating the crown, creating their own more advanced administrations and an ideological base for claims to exercise 'regal rights' within their lordships, often expressed in striking visual and symbolic form. These trends are evident in the late medieval duchy of Brittany where the Montfort dynasty all but succeeded in nullifying royal control.
Recenzijos
'... an extremely important collection of essays by one of the finest historians of late medieval France.' H-France Reviews
Contents: Introduction; Tradition, history and the French: a case of
tunnel vision; The Capetians and Brittany; Nantes au début de la guerre
civile en Bretagne; Ancenis, Froissart and the beginnings of the War of
Succession in Brittany (1341); Edward III's captains in Brittany; Politics,
sanctity and the Breton state: the case of the Blessed Charles de Blois, duke
of Brittany (d. 1364); Between France and England: Jeanne de Navarre, duchess
of Brittany and queen of England (1368-1437); Notaries and notarial practice
in medieval Brittany; The late medieval state and social change: a view from
the duchy of Brittany; Aristocracy, faction and the state in 15th-century
Brittany; 'En son habit royal': le duc de Bretagne et son image vers la fin
du Moyen Ćge; Les signes du pouvoir. L'Ordre de l'Hermine, les devises et
les hérauts des ducs de Bretagne au XVčme sičcle; Index.
Michael Jones is Emeritus Professor of Medieval French History, University of Nottingham, UK