Lord of the Pyrenees: Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix [1331-1391]
- Description
- Contents
- Reviews
Relates the colourful life of 'enlightened despot' Gaston III, count of Foix, an enigmatic and brilliant figure in a turbulent period.
The reign of Gaston III, Count of Foix and self-proclaimed sovereign Lord of Béarn, stands out as one of the rare success stories of the `calamitous' fourteenth century. By playing a skilful game of shifting allegiances and timelydefiance, he avoided being drawn into the conflicts between his more powerful neighbours - France and English Aquitaine, Aragon and Castile -- thus sparing his domains the devastations of warfare. Best known as a patron of thearts, and the author of a celebrated Book of the Hunt, Fébus - as he styled himself - also prefigures the eighteenth-century `enlightened despots' with his effort to centralize government, protect natural resources and promote enterprise. But a sequence of mysterious tragedies -- the abrupt dismissal of his wife, the slaying of his only legitimate son - reveal the dark side of the brilliant and enigmatic `Sun Prince of the Pyrenees'.
RICHARD VERNIER is Professor Emeritus of Romance Languages and Literatures, Wayne State University. He is the author of The Flower of Chivalry: Bertrand du Guesclin and the Hundred Years War.
The reign of Gaston III, Count of Foix and self-proclaimed sovereign Lord of Béarn, stands out as one of the rare success stories of the `calamitous' fourteenth century. By playing a skilful game of shifting allegiances and timelydefiance, he avoided being drawn into the conflicts between his more powerful neighbours - France and English Aquitaine, Aragon and Castile -- thus sparing his domains the devastations of warfare. Best known as a patron of thearts, and the author of a celebrated Book of the Hunt, Fébus - as he styled himself - also prefigures the eighteenth-century `enlightened despots' with his effort to centralize government, protect natural resources and promote enterprise. But a sequence of mysterious tragedies -- the abrupt dismissal of his wife, the slaying of his only legitimate son - reveal the dark side of the brilliant and enigmatic `Sun Prince of the Pyrenees'.
RICHARD VERNIER is Professor Emeritus of Romance Languages and Literatures, Wayne State University. He is the author of The Flower of Chivalry: Bertrand du Guesclin and the Hundred Years War.
Inheritance
Apprenticeship
Trials and Tribulations
Fébus Revealed
Challenges and Designs
Governing Wisely
Fébus at Home
Fébus, the Author
The Orthez Mystery
Endgame
Death, and the Spoils
Appendix I: Bernard de Béarn, Count of Medinaceli
Bibliography
Apprenticeship
Trials and Tribulations
Fébus Revealed
Challenges and Designs
Governing Wisely
Fébus at Home
Fébus, the Author
The Orthez Mystery
Endgame
Death, and the Spoils
Appendix I: Bernard de Béarn, Count of Medinaceli
Bibliography
"Provides a useful addition to the secondary literature in English, a well-written account of the man and a perceptive overview of his times." SPECULUM
"As is typical of this publisher, the volume is beautifully produced and bound. [...] This is a scholarly history but because Vernier is a gifted story-teller, the volume will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the Middle Ages." SCITECH BOOKS
Hardcover
9781843833567
August 2008
$115.00 / £75.00
Ebook (EPDF)
9781846156571
August 2008
$29.95 / £24.99