Hauptbeschreibung

This ground-breaking volume explores the terrain of friendship against the historical backdrop of early modern Europe. In these thought-provoking essays the terms of friendship are explored - from the most intimate and erotically charged to the reciprocities of village life. This is a rich offering in social and cultural history that is attuned to the pervasive language of religion. A hidden history is revealed - of friendships that we have lost, and of friendships starkly, and movingly, familiar.

Introduction; L.Gowing , M.Hunter & M.Rubin Friendship's Loss: Alan Bray's Making of History; V.Traub Sacred or Profane? Reflections on Love and Friendship in the Middle Ages; K.Oschema Love and Friendship in Catholic Reformation Eitchstatt; J.Durrant A Society of Sodomites: Religion and Homosexuality in Renaissance England; A.Stewart 'Swil-bills and Tos-pots': Drink Culture and Male Bonding in Early Modern England; A.Shepard The Politics of Women's Friendship in Early Modern England; L.Gowing Friends and Neighbours in Early Modern England: Biblical Translations and Social Norms; N.Tadmor Tricksters, Lords and Servants: Begging, Friendship and Masculinity in England During the Long Eighteenth Century; T.Hitchcock Spinoza and Friends: Religion, Philosophy and Friendship in the Berlin Enlightenment; A.Sutcliffe Index

JONATHAN DURRANT Lecturer in Early Modern History, Cardiff University, UK
TIM HITCHCOCK Professor of Eighteenth-Century History, University of Hertfordshire, UK
KLAUS OSCHEMA Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Bern, Switzerland
ALEXANDRA SHEPARD Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge, UK
ALAN STEWART Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, USA
ADAM SUTCLIFFE Associate Professor of European Jewish History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
NAOMI TADMOR Lecturer in History, University of Sussex, UK
VALERIE TRAUB Professor of English and Women's Studies, University of Michigan, USA