Lives of Fair and Gallant Ladies (Vol. 1&2)

Book excerpt: Lives of Fair and Gallant Ladies is a two-volume work by French historian and biographer Pierre de Bourdeille dealing with women and their position in the culture and society in medieval France. Bourdeille writes in a quaint conversational way, pouring forth his thoughts, observations or facts with the greatest frankness. His works give a picture of the general court-life of the time, with its unblushing and undisguised profligacy. There is not an homme illustre or a dame galante in all his gallery of portraits who has not engaged in sexual immorality; and yet the whole is narrated with the most complete unconsciousness that there is anything objectionable in their conduct.