Violence in Medieval Courtly Literature: A Casebook Edited by Albrecht Classen Violence in Medieval Courtly Literature explores the dark side of courtly literature. Although courtly literature is often associated with a chivalrous and idyllic life, the essays in this collection demonstrate that the quest for love in the world of medieval courtly literature was underpinned by violence - lovers were rejected, mistrust ruled, rape was a rampant problem, and marriage was often characterized by brutality. Assembled and introduced by Albrecht Classen, this volume brings together an outstanding group of historical, cultural, and literary scholars to investigate the complicated, nuanced, and often surprising unions of love and violence in courtly medieval literature. The collection focuses on the prevalence of what is now known as "domestic violence" in the world of courtly literature. Many female writers addressed the problematic correlation of love with violence - specifically the physical violence that women faced at the hands of men - as witnessed by the twelfth-century troubairitz poetry, thirteenth-century and fourteenth-century women's trouvere poetry, and by fifteenth-and sixteenth-century German women's love poetry. Violence in Medieval Courtly Literature is essential reading that will challenge your understanding of romance and chivalry in the Middle Ages. Contributors:Fabian Alfie, Gijsbertus Koolemans Beynen, Nancy B. Black, Siegfried R. Christoph, Albrecht Classen, Raymond Cromier, Stacy L. Hahn, Michael P. Harney, Jean E. Jost, Leo D. Lefebure, William C. McDonald, Marcella L. Munson, Scott E. Pincikowski, Corrine Saunders, Julia Wingo Shinnick. Albrecht Classen is Professor of German at the University of Arizona. He is editor of The Book and the Magic of Reading in the Middle Ages and Meeting the Foreign in the Middle Ages, both published by Routledge.