The Axe and the Oath

Robert Fossier is professor emeritus of medieval history at the Sorbonne. He is the author of many books on medieval history and the editor of The Cambridge History of the Middle Ages.

In The Axe and the Oath, one of the world's leading medieval historians presents a compelling picture of daily life in the Middle Ages as it was experienced by ordinary people. Robert Fossier vividly describes how these vulnerable people confronted life, from birth to death, including childhood, marriage, work, sex, food, illness, religion, and the natural world. While most histories of the period focus on the ideas and actions of the few who wielded power and stress how different medieval people were from us, Fossier concentrates on the other nine-tenths of humanity in the period and concludes that "medieval man is us."

Preface ix Part One: MAN AND THE WORLD Chapter 1: Naked Man 3 A Fragile Creature 3 An Ungainly Being 3 Fairly Content with Himself 5 But Are There Nonetheless Nuances? 8 But a Threatened Creature 11 Does Man Really Know Himself? 11 "Abnormal" Assaults on Man 16 The Illness That Lies in Wait 19 The Black Death 23 Can Those Men Be Counted? 27 Chapter 2: The Ages of Life 37 From the Child to the Man 38 Expecting a Baby 38 When the Child Arrives 41 "Childhoods" 44 The Child in the Midst of the Family 48 Man in His Private Life 51 As Time Goes By 52 Nourishing the Body 59 The Shaping of Taste 67 Adorning the Body 69 Man, Woman, and the Others 77 The Two Sexes Face-to-Face 78 Sexual Concerns 82 Living by the Fire and by the Pot 87 The Chains of Marriage 91 ... And Their Locks 96 Kin 102 ... And "Relations" 107 The Workplace 108 The House 109 ... And What Was Found in the House 115 Man Is Born to Toil 117 But What Work? 121 And Tools? 127 The End of Life 131 The Elderly 132 The "Passage" 136 After Death 139 Chapter 3: Nature 145 The Weather 145 The Paleo-Environment 146 What Did They See or Feel? 149 Fire and Water 154 Fire, the Symbol of Life and Death 154 Saving and Beneficent Water 157 The Sea, Horrible and a Temptress 160 The Products of the Earth 164 Mastering the Soil 165 Making the Earth Render 168 Grasses and Vines 171 The Trees and the Forest 175 The Forest, Overwhelming and Sacred 175 The Forest, Necessary and Nourishing 180 And the People of the Forest? 183 Chapter 4: And the Animals? 186 Man and Beast 187 Fear and Disgust 187 Respect and Affection 189 Knowing and Understanding 194 What Are the Beasts? 195 Penetrating This World 198 Utilize and Destroy 202 The Services of the Beast 203 Killing: Man's Job 208 A Contrasting Balance Sheet 215 Part Two: MAN IN HIMSELF Chapter 5: Man in Himself 223 Living in a Group 224 Why Come Together? 225 How to Assemble? 229 Where to Gather? 235 Laughter and Games 246 Precautions and Deviations 252 Order and the "Orders" 254 Peace and Honor 260 Law and Power 265 Gaps 276 And People from Elsewhere 285 Chapter 6: Knowledge 292 The Innate 293 Memory 293 The Imaginary 298 Measurement 303 Acquisitions 310 Act, Image, Word 312 Writing 317 What to Learn? 323 And Where? 329 Expression 335 Who Wrote and What Did They Write? 336 For Whom and Why Did Authors Write? 341 The Artist's Part 343 Chapter 7: And the Soul 348 Good and Evil 350 The End of Dualism 351 Virtue and Temptation 356 Sin and Pardon 362 Faith and Salvation 365 Dogma and the Rites of Medieval Christian Faith 366 The Church 371 The Other World 376 Conclusion 382