Popular Medievalism in Romantic-Era Britain [Paperback]

Through the consideration of canonical authors such as Blake, Scott, and Wordsworth and of lesser-studied works such as radical press writings and popular drama, this study explores the imaginative appeal of the social structures and literary forms of the Middle Ages, and how they raised awareness of Britain's tradition of freedom.Rites and Rights: The Topography of Ancient British Law The National Melody Medievalism Onstage in the French Revolutionary Era The Radical Bestiary Buried Alive: Gothic Reading and Medievalist Subjectivity Scottish Lawyers, Feudal Law Epilogue: Medievalism Becomes Expensive

Popular Medievalism in the Romantic-Era Britain brings an important perspective to bear on the Romantic rage for the past. Simmons notes that medievalism, being a Victorian coinage, is usually discussed in the Victorian context and is usually conceived as in Ruskin, where the Romantic zeitgeisty notion of the three great ages of history takes a cultural and ethical turn to produce Classicalism, Medievalism, and Modernism ( 2). By going back to before Victorian medievalism and its obsession with duty, Simmons recovers other more popular ways of conceiving medieval period. - The Wordsworth Circle

Popular Medievalism in the Romantic-Era Britain's wide-ranging and meticulous analyses insist on the textuality not just of print sources but of structures, installations, and events. Simmons' uncovering of the connections among such disparate texts makes this a fascinating study. Her demonstration of the reach of populist discourse in the era deliberate and otherwise extends the work on Romantic radicalism and responses to it of Marcus Wood and Kevin Gilmartin.' - Kristin Samuelian

By investigating the popular medievalism of the Romantic era, Simmons adds an essential and hitherto neglected facet to the continually evolving picture of the reception of medieval culture in postmedieval times. As an important corrective to lÓ)