Customer Reviews

The Legend of Bouvines: War, Religion, and Culture in the Middle Ages

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Duby's has said he does not write history, but how men thought. In that sense this book is more than a single battle, but insight in to how people thought in the Middle Ages. For example, the idea of actually getting killed in battle was, for a knight, unspeakable. Only 2 knights were killed at the battle: the first by accident, the second by his own side when he unwisely yelled "death to the french!". It was the peasants who did the dieing, and for the knights went honour and glory and spoils. Battle was in short just an extension of the sport of Tournament and hunting, but one with serious consequence. Bovines set the stage for Magna Carta and events in Europe for 100s of years to come.

Overall the book is short, but the language is dense and I found at times difficult to read, and at others, poetically brilliant (I attribute this perhaps to translation and thus 4-stars). This is not a glorification of war, indeed very little is spent on the actual combat the rest dealing with various layers of medieval life. The book was originally called in French "Sunday in Bouvines" which is significant as much of the book revolves around the theme the battle was fought on a Sunday, violation of the Peace of God, thus giving the French a certain legitimacy as rightful victors (since the Allies initiated the fight on a day of peace). This book is not for beginners of medieval history so the more background you have the better, Dubys assumes a certain level of understanding. In the parlance of ski-slopes, despite the short length and mostly readable prose, this is a solid blue square conceptually.

In 1214 King Philip of France met and defeated the Emperor Otto of Flanders in the battle of Bouvines. In The Legend of Bouvines Georges Duby writes about this battle, and the legends which sprang from it, from a clear, unbiased perspective.

After describing the background to the battle, he presents an edited version of a contemporary account (that of William the Breton). This is followed by a general commentary on the ideology of peace, war, and battle in the twelfth century. Duby then analyses the evolution of the legends that sprang from Bouvines - in the centuries following the battle and, after its 18th century revival, in modern French historiography. Some of the sources for the battle are included as an appendix.

The Legend of Bouvines has a rare gem. Duby writes in the present tense, with a polished but effective prose, and brings alive both the ideals and the realities of warfare in high medieval France.

Mr. Duby gives an excellent account of the Battle of Bouvines. A little known battle in history books, but one of important ramifications. A well loved King ( Phillip II Augustus) of France defeats two conspiring enemies Otto of Germany and his uncle John Lackland of England. The book not only gives accurate descriptions of the battle, culture and politics of medieval Europe,it also includes the role of the Church. In addition, certain events such as King John's signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 forever limiting a King's authority in England are described as after effects of this Battle. A great read.

On Sunday, July 27, 1214, a German-Flemish army under excommunicated Emperor Otto of Brunswick caught up with a French army under King Philip Augustus near the bridge of Bouvines. There was a big battle, one of the more distinctly decisive battles of the Middle Ages; Otto fled the field, and the French were very victorious. Over the centuries following, the legend of the battle grew even larger and it was made to carry Great Historical Significance, especially over the long centuries of Franco-German animosity. Nowadays it's almost forgotten.

Duby almost scorns to relate the actual events of the battle ("these goals are unreachable"). Instead he tries to tell what the battle *meant*, both in the feudal society of the time and in the historical perspective of later ages. Personally, I prefer the "what really happened" school of history writing over the "what it all means" school - I start to channel Mr. Natural pretty quickly; I'd rather you give me the raw material and let me draw my own sweeping, dramatic over-generalizations. Duby's bibliography is selective rather than comprehensive, and there are no notes (foot- or end-) backing up his own sweeping, dramatic over-generalizations.

That said, this is very well written if you like that school, and is worth four good stars; the lack of notes is partially made up for by a collection of documentary sources ranging from chronicles written that same year to a newspaper polemic from 1914.