Ravishing Maidens: Writing Rape in Medieval French Literature and Law

Cover

Ravishing Maidens University of Pennsylvania Press NEW CULTURAL STUDIES SERIES Joan Dejean, Carroll Smith­Rosenberg, and Peter Stallybrass, Editors A complete listing of the books in this series appearsat the end of the volume Ravishing Maidens Writing Rape in Medieval French Literature and Law Kathryn Gmvdal Copyright © 1991 by Kathryn Gravdal All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging­in­Publication Data Gravdal, Kathryn. Ravishing maidens : writing rape in medieval French literature and law / Kathryn Gravdal. p. cm.—(New cultural studies series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0­8122­8247­7 (cloth).—ISBN 0­8:22­1315­7 (pbk) i. French literature—To 1500—History and criticism. 2. Women—France—History— Middle Ages, 500—1500. 3. Rape—Law and legislation—France—History. 4. Women— France—Crimes against—History. 5.Women and literature—France—History. 6. France— Social conditions—987­1515. 7. Rape victims in literature. 8. Sex crimes in literature. 9. Rape in literature. 10. Law, Medieval. I. Title. II. Series. PQI55­W6G7 1991 840.9'355; 0902—dc2O 90­26337 CIP Second paperback printing 1995 To my daughter This page intentionally left blank ...