For this assignment, there are four questions to answer. Each question should have 7-10 sentences minimum clearly answering what is being asked. Quotes should be used often, but not too much with proper citation. I have attached five readings as pdf documents which should be the only sources used. Do not use outside sources.
Reading: Montaillou, pages vii-68; 140-168; 192-203; 251-276.
Boyle, Montaillou Revisited
Confessions of Beatrice de Planissolles Parts 1 & 2
Answer ALL of the following questions
1. Montaillou has been both incredibly popular and immensely influential. Historians to tend to cite it liberally assuming without a second thought that it is a “typical” medieval village. Was it? Or was it closer to a “normal exception?”
2. Montaillou, LRL tells us, had little hierarchy, especially by comparison to feudal, northern France. Does that mean that Montaillou was untouched by inequality or by oppression? Who was dominant in Montaillou and how did they acquire & maintain their dominance?
3. Thanks to Stork’s translation, we can compare LRL’s analysis of the Inquisition records with the Inquisition records themselves. Please compare Montaillou Chapter IX “The Libido of the Clergues”with “The Testimony of Beatrice de Planissoles Parts 1 & 2.” Does LRL sometimes err in his interpretations? Does he occasionally embroider (like Davis) on the truth? Would you interpret Beatrice’s story differently from LRL?
4. Boyle complains that LRL has ignored his source, the Inquisition. Natalie Davis has charged LRL with imposing contemporary categories on the Montaillou peasants. Are these charges justified? Be sure to cite specific passages in Montaillou.
If I can be of any further help, please let me know.
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