The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres
The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres
Translated with an Introduction by LEAH SHOPKOW
Series: The Middle Ages Series
Copyright Date: 2001
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Pages: 272
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhtmj
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The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres
Book Description:

The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres, a work made famous by Georges Duby, now appears in an expert translation by Leah Shopkow. Consisting of 154 surviving chapters, Lambert's chronicle is just one of many local genealogies produced in Flanders during the high Middle Ages. It is extraordinarily rich and idiosyncratic, however, in its treatment of two competing families, longtime rivals until they were joined by marriage in the mid-twelfth century. In the first 96 chapters, Lambert, priest of the church of Ardres, traces the lineage of the counts of Guines from the seventh century to his present. Suddenly, narrative control seems to be wrested away by the garrulous Walter LeClud, illegitimate son of Baldwin of Ardres, who tells the history of the other family for the next 50 chapters. At that point, Lambert's voice is finally restored, with an account of the now combined holdings of Guines and Ardres. With two storytellers recounting some of the same events from different perspectives, The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres is a particularly useful source for probing the medieval aristocratic family and aristocratic attitudes. Shopkow brings Lambert's chronicle to life in an accurate, lively translation and provides relevant historical and historiographical information in her extensive introduction and explanatory notes to the text.

eISBN: 978-0-8122-0054-6
Subjects: History
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-iv)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. v-vi)
  3. Preface
    Preface (pp. vii-viii)
  4. Genealogical Chart
    Genealogical Chart (pp. ix-ix)
  5. Maps
    Maps (pp. x-xii)
  6. Introduction
    Introduction (pp. 1-40)

    The Chronicle of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres of Lambert of Ardres is a marvelous window into the Middle Ages, but a surprisingly little known and infrequently used text. It was hailed by E. A. Freeman, the great historian of the Conquest, as a superb historical source when the MGH edition was first published,¹ but Freeman also noted some reasons for the failure of modern scholars to take more note:

    It is a record which, if it ever brings us across the chief men, the chief events, even of its own age, does so only rarely and...

  7. THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTS OF GUINES AND LORDS OF ARDRES
    THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTS OF GUINES AND LORDS OF ARDRES (pp. 41-194)

    Although I am entangled and fettered by the affairs of my household duty and so ought to forego the responsibility of writing, nevertheless, I bow to your frequent requests, most vigorous of knights, Arnold of Guines, who are our patrician and lord,¹ and undertake this arduous work, the matter of your most outstanding lineage.² I am not unaware of my presumption in taking this matter on, particularly since I see that my small wit is insufficient to execute such a work. I also predict that I will be slashed by the pale teeth of baying rivals [cf. Horace, Epistles, 5.47],...

  8. Notes
    Notes (pp. 195-244)
  9. Bibliography
    Bibliography (pp. 245-254)
  10. Index
    Index (pp. 255-279)
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