French manners and civility were the model for European civilization, while feud is associated with backward societies. Yet in France thousands of men died in duels in which the supposed rules of honour were regularly flouted. In this detailed and original book Stuart Carroll explores the nature of vengeance and reveals the dark side of Renaissance civilization.

Thinkers and historians have long perceived violence and its control as integral to the very idea of 'Western Civilization'. Focusing on interpersonal violence and the huge role it played in human affairs in the post-medieval West, this timely collection brings together the latest interdisciplinary and historical research in the field.

Noble affinities were the essence of power in sixteenth-century France. This is the first book to analyze the development of a noble following during the whole course of the Wars of Religion. The Guise were one of the greatest families of Christendom and this is the first substantial work on them for a century. In Normandy, a stronghold of Protestantism, they built a formidable ultra-Catholic party that ultimately challenged the monarchy. This book breaks new ground by discussing all groups in political society, from international dynastic politics to peasant revolt.