Le Dimanche de Bouvines, 27 Juillet 1214

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Le Dimanche de Bouvines, 27 Juillet 1214

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 37 ratings · 3 reviews

"Une bataille. Un événement. Ponctuel. Retentissant." C'est ainsi que Georges Duby, l'un des plus éminents médiévistes français (Le Moyen Âge, Le Chevalier, La femme et le Prêtre), commente la bataille de Bouvines où Philippe Auguste a vaincu l'empereur Otton IV durant l'été 1214. En trois temps -l'événement, le commentaire, l'inscription dans la légende- l'historien propo...more

Published April 1st 1985 (first published 1973)

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Nov 10, 2012 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french-history, medieval, cultural-history, history, favorites

Ugh, I loved this book a lot. I am not normally one to go in for military history, but I thought this book was really fantastic (probably in part because it's not a whole lot like your traditional military narrative). First off, it's written beautifully. I'm a sucker for some pretty prose, and Duby (and his translator) offer up some of the most lovely historical writing I've read, solely from an aesthetic standpoint. It's really a pleasure to read.

It's also just really fascinating. The Battle o...more Ugh, I loved this book a lot. I am not normally one to go in for military history, but I thought this book was really fantastic (probably in part because it's not a whole lot like your traditional military narrative). First off, it's written beautifully. I'm a sucker for some pretty prose, and Duby (and his translator) offer up some of the most lovely historical writing I've read, solely from an aesthetic standpoint. It's really a pleasure to read.

It's also just really fascinating. The Battle of Bouvines took place in July of 1214 and it's mostly known as the battle that definitely kicked King John of England out of his continental lands and allowed the Capetians of France to continue on their ascent to predominance and consolidation of French lands. But that's a story that's been told plenty of times, and Duby goes after something a bit different: using an anthropological approach, he views the Battle of Bouvines (and the successive stories told about it) as a way of viewing wider currents in the Middle Ages. Some of this is absolutely great: you'll find out all about how medieval people may have counter-intuitively seen battles as an act of peace, how the rising money economy changed warfare, and how the battle offered up several different narratives about French kingship. There's also just loads of fun anecdotes: there's one 13th century chronicle that narrates the battle from the perspective of a vengeful Oriflamme (the French battle standard) that goes around impaling people.

There are certainly some weaknesses to the book, and your enjoyment of it will depend quite a bit on your tolerance for structural anthropology. Duby is aiming to reconstruct how people thought about things, a tough thing to do even when people are alive and you can interview them, so the account is inevitably a bit blurry around the edges, and sometimes falls into over-interpretation. But Duby seems mostly aware of that, and his work is beautiful and thoughtful enough to overcome most of its weaknesses. I would definitely recommend it if you're even remotely interested in medieval history. (less)

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Nov 02, 2012 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-military

I bought Georges Duby's The Legend of Bouvines to learn about the impact this battle had on the history of France. Duby's does excellent work in bring out knowledge from the sources concerning the battle and giving an as accurate detail of the battle that he could. Duby's also gives an account of the battle in the social and cultural, not just political, context that helps give the reader a full sense of how to view the battle.

However, while all those things are positives for the book, the major...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Michal rated it 4 of 5 stars

velice dobře zpracovává obraz středověké bitvy se všemi symboly a rolí panovníka a jeho družiny....

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Apr 08, 2013 Kristin marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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