Teaching about the Middle Ages in French culture or literature courses is always an enlightening experience to me because of the richness of symbols, events, and starting points occurring during this time period. Very often, when thinking about the Middle Ages, Christianity, chivalry, and nobility come to mind, all values still of high importance in contemporary Western societies. However, medieval culture presents itself with an array of other behaviors and values, some of which may today be considered as offensive and even sometimes “alienating”: primitive, barbaric, or even animalistic forms of behavior. - [Abstract]

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