'Hoe haer die ghemeente sette jeghen die heren'. Politieke literatuur en opstanden in het veertiende-eeuwse Brabant
(2019) Bijdragen en Mededelingen Betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden — Vol. 134, n° 2, p. 71-95 (2019)
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- Abstract
- This article examines the political messages that are incorporated in stories about revolts in late medieval literature from the duchy of Brabant. In this way, it contributes to the debate on the functionality of literary discourses about political resistance. Despite the rigor of previous studies on this subject, researches often still interpret the very negative late medieval discourse on revolts as an attempt to legitimize the power of the ruling elites. By means of an intertextual comparison between the discourses of a chronicle, didactic literature and political and juridical sources, this article argues that this explanation is too limited. In fact, descriptions of revolts also functioned as a warning for the consequences of misgovernance. As political instruments, literary works tried to convince rulers to make policy changes in order to bring an end to contemporary rebellions. Late medieval authors were thus less conservative than a first reading of their works suggests.
- Affiliations
KU Leuven Research Group of Medieval History
Citations
De Boodt, M. (2019). ‘Hoe haer die ghemeente sette jeghen die heren’. Politieke literatuur en opstanden in het veertiende-eeuwse Brabant. Bijdragen en Mededelingen Betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, 134(2), 71-95. https://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10666 (Original work published 2019)