The Letters of the Rozmberk Sisters: Noblewomen in Fifteenth-Century Bohemia (Library of Medieval Women) - Softcover

Klassen, John; Dolezalová, Eva; Szabo, Lynn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 085991612X ISBN 13: 9780859916127

Publisher: BOYE6, 2001

Synopsis

The letters of the Rozmberk sisters, Perchta and Anézka, give a vivid insight into how medieval women viewed themselves. Perchta's letters inform her father that his choice of a husband for her has caused her desperate sadness and sorrow in which death seems a better alternative. Despite her unhappiness and her almost total dependence on others, however, Perchta undertook to take control of her own fate and to improve the circumstances of her life. Her letters were the means whereby she informed her father and brothers of her misery and persuaded them to take action, and in the process they tell us about her expectations of respect and companionship in marriage. The letters of both sisters show them to be women with a vigorous sense of their own dignity and offer insights into the hopes and disappointments, joys and vexations of fifteenth-century women. The letters also introduce theenvironment and the activities of daily castle life, and offer an intimate picture of family life in the fifteenth century.JOHN M. KLASSEN is Professor of History at Trinity Western University, Canada. He was assisted in the translations by EVA DOLEZALOVA, Historical Institue, Prague, and LYNN SZABO, Trinity Western University.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

With an Introduction, Interpretive Essay and Bibliography

THE LETTERS OF PERCHTA AND ANEZKA offer an illuminating insight into how two aristocratic women in fifteenth-century Bohemia saw themselves and their lives. The central topic of this collection is Perchta's expression, in letters to her father, of her deep unhappiness at his choice of husband for her, in which her expectations of respect and companionship in marriage clearly emerge. This rare discussion on paper of a situation that must have faced many women in the middle ages is valuable for its illustration of how much a woman might do to influence plans made for her, made all the more interesting by the vigorous personalities of the two sisters and the incidental illumination of family and castle life.

About the Author:

JOHN M. KLASSEN is Professor of History at Trinity Western University, Canada. He was assisted in the translations by EVA DOLEZALOVA, Historical Institue, Prague, and LYNN SZABO, Trinity Western University.

About this edition

• Publisher: BOYE6
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 085991612X
• ISBN 13: 9780859916127
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144