Terry Jones is perhaps best known as one of the members of the British comedy troupe Monty Python. Anyone who has followed his career since his Python days knows that he has become a respected medievalist, something my Medieval Literature professor told us one day in discussing Chaucer’s Knight. Jones’s Medieval Lives may be seen as a companion to the series of the same name.
The book is broken down into eight chapters the explore the lives of people of different classes and occupations, sweeping away the glorification given to some (knights) and undue pity given to others (peasant). It’s a refreshing exploration of what medieval life was really like with the most intense focus on medieval life in England, which is clearly Jones’s background. The eight groups Jones explores in this book are peasants, minstrels, outlaws, monks, philosophers, knights, damsels, and kings. My favorite chapter on kings discusses incorrect perceptions and propaganda surrounding medieval English kings and is brilliantly constructed around analysis of the three Richards:
Kings of England can be divided into three types: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. That, you can take it from us, is a reliable fact… Take all the kings of England called Richard: there’s Good King Richard I—Richard the Lionheart, the idealistic crusader and champion of England—or was he? Bad King Richard II— the vain, megalomaniac tyrant—or has his name been traduced by those who wished him ill? And Ugly King Richard III—the deformed monster of Shakespeare’s imagination—or is he nothing more than that: the product of our greatest playwright’s imagination? (“King,” location 3040)
Jones’s explanation of why Good King Richard the Lionheart was a terrible English king, why Richard II was a fairly good king, and Richard III not at all Shakespeare’s villainous tyrant made for interesting reading, though as an anglophile with a bizarre fascination for the British monarchy, much of it was not new to me.
I also enjoyed Jones’s deconstruction of the knight in the Middle Ages, particularly my favorite William Marshal. I liked Jones’s description of the value of knighthood, perfectly encapsulated by the English defeat of the French at Agincourt: “The flower of French chivalry was cut down by archers on sixpence a day” (“Knight,” location 2523). So much for the French assumption that the English would face them on horseback like proper knights!
Jones’s chapter on damsels gives the lie to the old saw that medieval women were powerless and in constant need of rescue. I was particularly interested in Jones’s discussion of the evolution of the Lady of Shalott:
In the original story the lady was not weak and helpless at all, and she was not under any curse. Nor was she passive and pathetic. She was a wilful, stubborn woman who boldly declared her passionate love for Lancelot. Her tragedy was that it was not returned. (“Damsel,” location 2755).
Later, Tennyson would describe her plight differently:
The story of the Lady of Shalott created an extraordinarily resonant echo in the Victorian and Edwardian imagination; Pre-Raphaelite artists, looking for images that expressed what they saw as a truly medieval perspective, returned to it time and time again… It is an image of womanhood as essentially confined and restricted; full participation in the world is forbidden and fatal. This is sentimentally regretted, but tragically unalterable. (“Damsel,” location 2748-2753).
The entire book is worthy of quotes, and I highlighted and annotated it more heavily than any other book I’ve read on my Kindle. Suffice it to say it’s as entertaining and funny as one would expect from a member of Monty Python and informative and educational enough that you’ll learn quite a lot of history as you read. I highly recommend it. As Jones says in my favorite quote in the book, “History consists of the tales we like to tell each other about our predecessors” (“King,” location 3046). If you’ve ever wondered what “tales” you’ve been told about medieval people, pick up this book.Rating:
Terry Jones labda anajulikana zaidi kama mmoja wa wanachama wa kundi la ucheshi la Uingereza Monty Python. "Mtu yeyote ambaye amekuwa akifuatilia kazi yake tangu siku zake za Python anajua kwamba amekuwa mtaalamu wa enzi za kati anayeheshimiwa, kitu ambacho profesa wangu wa fasihi ya enzi za kati alituambia siku moja katika kujadili ""Knight"" ya Chaucer." Maisha ya Jones ya Enzi za Kati yanaweza kuonekana kama mwenzake wa mfululizo wa jina moja. Kitabu hicho kimegawanywa katika sura nane ambazo zinachunguza maisha ya watu wa tabaka na kazi tofauti, zikiondoa utukufu uliopewa baadhi (wafalme) na huruma isiyofaa iliyopewa wengine (wakulima). Ni uchunguzi wa kuburudisha wa maisha ya enzi za kati yalikuwaje kwa kuzingatia sana maisha ya enzi za kati nchini Uingereza, ambayo ni wazi historia ya Jones. Vikundi vinane ambavyo Jones anachunguza katika kitabu hiki ni wakulima, wanamuziki, wahalifu, watawa, wanafalsafa, mashujaa, wasichana, na wafalme. "Sura ya kwanza ya kitabu hiki, ""Kings,"" inazungumzia maoni yasiyo sahihi na propaganda inayozunguka wafalme wa Kiingereza wa enzi za kati na ni ya kipaji sana kwa sababu inaelezea mambo matatu ya kifalme: ""Wafalme wa Uingereza"" wanaweza kugawanywa katika aina tatu: ""Wazuri,"" ""Wabaya"" na ""Wabaya.""" "Hiyo, unaweza kuchukua kutoka kwetu, ni ukweli wa kuaminika... Chukua wafalme wote wa Uingereza walioitwa Richard: kuna Mfalme Mwema Richard I, Richard Moyo wa Simba, msalaba wa kipekee na bingwa wa Uingereza - au alikuwa yeye?""" Je, Mfalme Mwovu Richard wa Pili - yule mnyonge mwenye kiburi na mwenye kichaa - au jina lake limedharauliwa na wale waliomtamani mabaya? Na Mfalme Richard wa Tatu Mchafu - mnyama mchafu wa mawazo ya Shakespeare - au yeye ni kitu zaidi ya kwamba: bidhaa ya mawazo ya mwandishi wetu mkubwa wa michezo? "Joni Jones alieleza kwa nini Mfalme mwema Richard Lionheart alikuwa mfalme mbaya wa Kiingereza, kwa nini Richard II alikuwa mfalme mzuri, na kwa nini Richard III hakuwa mtawala mwovu wa Shakespeare, na kwa nini alikuwa ""mwenye kupendeza"" kwa ajili ya kusoma, ingawa kama Anglophile na kichawi cha ajabu kwa ajili ya ufalme wa Uingereza, mengi ya hayo hayakuwa mapya kwangu." Pia nilifurahia uharibifu wa Jones wa farasi katika Enzi za Kati, hasa William Marshal ninayempenda. "Jones alitoa maelezo ya thamani ya cheo cha knighthood, ambayo ilifunikwa kikamilifu na ushindi wa Kiingereza wa Kifaransa huko Agincourt: ""Maua ya cheo cha Kifaransa yalikatwa na wapiga upinde kwa senti sita kwa siku.""" Hivyo ndivyo ilivyo na dhana ya Wafaransa kwamba Waingereza wangewapatia ushindi wakiwa wamepanda farasi kama mashujaa wa kweli! Sura ya Jones juu ya mabikira inatoa uongo kwa mstari wa zamani kwamba wanawake wa enzi za kati hawakuwa na nguvu na walihitaji kuokolewa daima. "Joni Jones, ambaye anajua sana historia ya mwanamke wa Shalott, alisema: ""Mwanamke huyo hakuwa dhaifu na asiye na uwezo, wala hakuwa chini ya laana yoyote." Wala hakuwa mnyoofu na mwenye kusikitisha. Alikuwa mwanamke mwenye nia mbaya, mwenye kiburi ambaye alitangaza kwa ujasiri upendo wake wa kihisia-moyo kwa Lancelot. Msiba wake ulikuwa kwamba haikurudishwa. (Damsel, eneo 2755). "Tennyson aliandika hivi: ""Hadithi ya Lady of Shalott iliunda echo ya ajabu katika mawazo ya Victoria na Edward; wasanii wa kabla ya Raphael, wakitafuta picha ambazo zilionyesha kile walichokiona kama mtazamo wa kweli wa enzi za kati, walirudi mara kwa mara... Ni picha ya wanawake kama msingi uliofungwa na mdogo; ushiriki kamili katika ulimwengu ni marufuku na mbaya." Jambo hilo linahuzunisha sana, lakini kwa kusikitisha haliwezi kubadilika. "Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza, ""Mwanamke wa kwanza." Kitabu chote ni anastahili nukuu, na mimi highlighted na annotated ni zaidi sana kuliko kitabu kingine chochote nimekuwa kusoma juu ya Kindle yangu. Inatosha kusema ni kama burudani na funny kama moja ingekuwa kutarajia kutoka kwa mwanachama wa Monty Python na habari na elimu ya kutosha kwamba wewe kujifunza mengi ya historia kama wewe kusoma. Ninapendekeza sana. "Kama Jones anavyosema katika nukuu yangu ya kupenda katika kitabu hicho, ""Historia inajumuisha hadithi tunazopenda kuelezea kwa kila mmoja kuhusu watangulizi wetu"" (King, eneo 3046)." Kama umewahi kujiuliza nini <unk>masimulizi<unk> umekuwa aliiambia kuhusu watu wa enzi za kati, kuchukua kitabu hiki.Rating: