The Medieval Idea of Marriage

This book offers a fascinating insight into the nature of medieval marriage in the period 1000 to 1500. Brooke surveys current approaches to the idea of marriage, exploring the practice and law of marriage, the cult of celibacy in the 11th and 12th centuries, and the relationship between marriage and architecture. He draws on a wide range of case studies and other sources, including the letters of Heloise and Abelard, the epics of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and Chaucer's poetry.

This wide-ranging book offers fascinating insights into the nature of marriage in the Middle Ages, both in its social, political, legal, and religious aspects, and its treatment in contemporary art and literature. From such major topics as the role of the Church fathers and the Bible, and the practice and law of marriage, to the cult of celibacy and the relationship between marriage and architecture, Professor Brooke's illuminating study offers the most complete account of medieval marriage ever published. He draws on a remarkable group of case studies and sources, including the letters of Heloise and Abelard, the epics of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and the poetry of Chaucer, and concludes with a penetrating look at the Arnolfini Marriage by Jan van Eyck.

List of illustrations ; Preface; Prologue; The inheritance, Christian and Roman; The cult of celibacy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries; The correspondence of Heloise and Abelard; The marriage of Heloise and Abelard; Marriage in law and practice; The use of literary evidence for the history of marriage: Wolfram von Eschenbach; The witness of Chaucer; Love and marriage in Shakespeare; The church porch: marriage and architecture; Towards a theology of marriage