Men and morality
Rachel Stone
Thomas Noble describes the Carolingian lay noble ethos as ‘remarkably simple’, and some discussions have sought to boil it down one or two essential concepts. Mayke de Jong, for example, stresses fides (loyalty one’s lord) a key virtue of elite society, while Eric Goldberg has argued that ‘Dignitas was at heart political culture.’ Yet closer analysis specific genres moral texts often revealed their variety. It is no coincidence neither Hans Hubert Anton’s study mirrors princes, nor Franz Sedlmeier’s mirrors, ends with extensive conclusions: proved remarkably difficult find core themes in these genres.
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