Rebel Barons
Luke Sunderland
Ambivalence towards kings, and other sovereign powers, is deep-seated in medieval culture: sovereigns might provide justice, but were always potential tyrants, who usurped power ‘stole’ through taxation. <italic>Rebel Barons</italic> writes the history of this ambivalence, which was especially acute England, France, Italy twelfth to fifteenth centuries, when modern ideology sovereignty, arguing for monopolies on justice legitimate use violence, developed. Sovereign powers asserted themselves militarily economically provoking complex phenomena resistance by aristocrats. argues that <italic>chansons de geste</italic>, key genre disseminating models violent noble opposition sovereigns, offer a powerful way understanding acts resistance. Traditionally seen as France’s epic literary monuments—the <italic>Chanson Roland</italic> often presented foundational French literature—<italic>chansons geste</italic> fact come from areas antagonistic such Burgundy, Flanders, Occitania, Italy, where they reworked repeatedly century recast into prose chronicle forms. Rebel baron narratives principal vehicle aristocratic concerns about tyranny, fantasies escape Carolingian world via crusade oriental adventures. Revealing widespread long-lived importance these anti-royalist works supporting regional rights feud revolt, reshapes our knowledge reactions changing political realities at crux period European history.