As she examines misconceptions about the "Middle Ages", the renown French historian, Regine Pernoud, gives the reader a refreshingly original perspective on many subjects, both historical (from the Inquisition and witchcraft trials to a comparison of Gothic and Renaissance creative inspiration) as well as eminently modern (from law and the place of women in society to the importance of history and tradition, with practical suggestions for education). Here are fascinating insights, based on Pernoud's sound knowledge and extensive experience as an archivist at the French National Archives. The book will be provocative for the general readers as well as a helpful resource for teachers of most levels of education.

Scorned for centuries, although lauded by the Romantics, these thousand years of history have most often been concealed behind the dark clouds of ignorance: Why, didn't godiche (clumsy, oafish) come from gothique (Gothic)? Doesn't "feudal" refer to the most hopeless obscurantism? Isn't "Medieval" applied to dust-covered, outmoded things?

Thanks to this book, the old varnish is stripped away and a thousand years of history finally emerge the "Middle Ages" are dead, long live the Middle Ages!

"Regine Pernoud, in the clear light of her vast knowledge as a historian, thrashes the ignorant, smashing their errors and the generally accepted ideas about the Middle Ages."
       -Jean Prasteau
             Le Figaro

:After so many errors and excesses, the sound of Regine Pernoud's fist on the table is a helthy thing."
       -Ginette Guitard-Auviste
             Le Monde

"Contains rich veins of information for the amateur as well as for the scholar, this book is written in a brisk and sometimes petulant style. A must for students."
       -Cornelius Buckley S.J.
             Author, When Jesuits Were Giants

Born in 1909, Regine Pernoud went from the Ecole des Chartres and the Louvre to work as conservator of the Museum of Reims, then at the National Archives, and eventually she became director of the Jeanne d'Arc Center at Orleans. Her many writings include Women in the Days of the Cathedrals.