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Anne's Bohemia Czech Literature and Society, 1310-1420 Alfred Thomas |
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The first book in English on medieval Czech literature. Anne's Bohemia is the first book in English to introduce the little-known riches of medieval Bohemian culture. Alfred Thomas considers the development of Czech literature and society from the coronation of Count John of Luxembourg as king of Bohemia in 1310 to the year 1420, when the papacy declared a Catholic crusade against the Hussite reformers. This period is of particular relevance to the study of medieval England because of Richard II's marriage to Anne of Bohemia, the figure around whom this book is conceived. Anne's Bohemia provides a social context for the most important works of literature written in the Czech language, from the earliest spiritual songs and prayers to the principal Hussite and anti-Hussite tracts of the fifteenth century. The picture that emerges from Thomas's close readings of these texts is one of a society undergoing momentous political and religious upheavals in which kings, queens, clergy, and heretics all played crucial roles. Expert but accessibly written, the book offers an engaging overview of medieval Bohemian culture for specialist and nonspecialist alike. “Anne’s Bohemia is a splendid portrait of diversity in religion, ethnicity, class and gender which serves to illuminate, rather than obfuscate, the concomitant change and continuity giving birth to a unique phenomenon in Central Europe at the end of the Middle Ages.” —The Medieval Review “Anne’s Bohemia is well informed and informative, and will amply reward interest in the cultural traditions Anne of Bohemia represented.” —Arthuriana “Thomas’s purpose in writing this ambitious and well-planned work was to investigate a literary period that proved not only to be prolific but, in many ways, very progressive. Thomas offers a highly readable and fascinating overview of a short period of great freedom for women, who returned to intellectual activity only with the National Revival of the nineteenth century.” —Slavic and East European Journal “In making fully evident to those who have not studied Slavic languages and literature the importance of medieval Bohemian culture within Europe, and particularly its importance to the study of parallel or even directly related developments in England, Anne’s Bohemia fills a significant gap.” —Literary Research “Scholars interested in the literature of late-medieval Bohemia will undoubtedly benefit from Thomas’s in-depth analyses of the major works of early Czech literature. The author seeks to anchor the Czech literary achievement firmly within the medieval western European cultural traditions while emphasizing its artistic creativity. Thomas should be commended for his efforts to identify the mostly anonymous Czech authors and their audiences. His focus on the reception of early Czech works contributes immensely to our understanding of ethnic and cultural tensions in medieval Bohemia before the Hussite revolution.” —Speculum Alfred Thomas is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Humanities at Harvard University. He is author of The Czech Chivalric Romances Vévoda Arnost and Lavryn in Their Literary Context and The Labyrinth of the Word: Truth and Representation in Czech Literature. 232 pages | 6 black-and-white photos | 5 7/8 x 9 | 1998 |
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$28.00 Paper