Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature - 9781843842880

Torture and Brutality in Medieval LiteratureNegotiations of National Identity\nAuthor(s): Larissa Tracy, Jay Paul Gates\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: D.S. Brewer\nISBN-13: 9781843842880, 978-1843842880\nSynopsis\nA new look at the way in which medieval European literature depicts torture and brutality.\n\nAn ugly subject, but one that needs to be treated thoroughly and comprehensively, with a discreet wit and no excessive relish. These needs are richly satisfied in Larissa Tracy's bold and important book. DEREK PEARSALL, ProfessorEmeritus, Harvard University.\n\nTorture - that most notorious aspect of medieval culture and society - has evolved into a dominant mythology, suggesting that the Middle Ages was a period during which sadistic torment wasinflicted on citizens with impunity and without provocation: popular museums displaying such gruesome implements as the rack, the strappado, the gridiron, the wheel, and the Iron Maiden can .