Chaucer, Gower, Hoccleve and the Commercial Practices of Late Fourteenth-Century London

ISBN-13: 9781138267046 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 178 str.

Craig E. Bertolet

Opis

Examining archival documents and literary texts, this book focuses on the practices of buying and selling in medieval London by examining how commercial issues are reflected in Chaucer, Gower, and Hoccleve. Craig Bertolet reads specific Canterbury tales and pilgrims associated with trade alongside Gower's Mirour de L'Omme and Confessio Amantis, and works by Hoccleve, to demonstrate how destabilizing trade was to London and how this instability produced narratives about trade.

Recenzje

'While a number of studies have looked at literary representations of trade in recent years, Craig Bertolet here offers a fresh approach: his focus is primarily literary in its address to Chaucer, Gower, and Hoccleve, and his use of the practice and experience of trade as his lens allows him to bring a new focus to the intersection of economy and literature. Bertolet's book combines a compelling (and occasionally eclectic) theoretical paradigm with a meticulous attention to detail and a wise critical eye.' Roger A. Ladd, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, USA 'Bertolet's work is vety useful in bringing together isolated narratives and practices to shed light on commerce as a whole.' Comitatus 'Bertolet creates a persuasive argument for the fourteenth century as a turning-point in the development of London's commercial culture, which created social and cultural tensions reflected in the literature of the period. His book offers an innovative re-assessment of three of the most important writers of late medieval England, making skilful use of documentary material in order to situate their work firmly within its socio-economic context.' Sehepunkte

Spis treści

Introduction; Chapter 1 The Commercial Polity; Chapter 2 Buying and Markets; Chapter 3 Debts and Credit; Chapter 4 Shopkeeping; Chapter 5 Innkeepers and the Hospitality Trade; conclusion Conclusion;

O autorze

Craig E. Bertolet is an Associate Professor of English at Auburn University, USA.