Sainteté et sauvagerie. Deux images du paysan au Moyen Âge - article ; n°3 ; vol.47, pg 539-560

Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations - Année 1992 - Volume 47 - Numéro 3 - Pages 539-560
Holiness and Savagery Two Images of Medieval Peasants.
It is often remarked hat peasants in medieval literature, art and historiography are depicted as coarse, fit only for labor, even as bestial. There was also tradition emphasizing the suffering and simplicity of rustics who vere protrayed as closest to God and salvation by reason of their wretched but virtuous condition on earth. Aspects of this dual image could be reconciled by invoking supposed harmony between terrestrial obedience and heavenly reward. Particularly in the period after 1350 however the contradiction between favorable and unfavorable images sharpened. Late-medieval denunciations of servitude and even justifications for peasant revolts are related to the lamentations and praise of rural labor found in earlier discourse.
22 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.