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The Good Wife's Guide (Le Ménagier de Paris): A Medieval Household Book Paperback – February 15, 2009

by Gina L. Greco (Translator), Christine M. Rose (Translator)
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In the closing years of the fourteenth century, an anonymous French writer compiled a book addressed to a fifteen-year-old bride, narrated in the voice of her husband, a wealthy, aging Parisian. The book was designed to teach this young wife the moral attributes, duties, and conduct befitting a woman of her station in society, in the almost certain event of her widowhood and subsequent remarriage. The work also provides a rich assembly of practical materials for the wife's use and for her household, including treatises on gardening and shopping, tips on choosing servants, directions on the medical care of horses and the training of hawks, plus menus for elaborate feasts, and more than 380 recipes.

The Good Wife's Guide is the first complete modern English translation of this important medieval text also known as Le Ménagier de Paris (the Parisian household book), a work long recognized for its unique insights into the domestic life of the bourgeoisie during the later Middle Ages. The Good Wife's Guide, expertly rendered into modern English by Gina L. Greco and Christine M. Rose, is accompanied by an informative critical introduction setting the work in its proper medieval context as a conduct manual. This edition presents the book in its entirety, as it must have existed for its earliest readers.

The Guide is now a treasure for the classroom, appealing to anyone studying medieval literature or history or considering the complex lives of medieval women. It illuminates the milieu and composition process of medieval authors and will in turn fascinate cooking or horticulture enthusiasts. The work illustrates how a (perhaps fictional) Parisian householder of the late fourteenth century might well have trained his wife so that her behavior could reflect honorably on him and enhance his reputation.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Cornell University Press
  4. Publication date
    February 15, 2009
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    6.12 x 0.88 x 9.25 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0801474744
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0801474743
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A cookbook section contains over 350 recipes, and if many of them are taken from authorities such as the royal chef Taillevent, the author is quite opinionated about what works and what doesn't; he improves some recipes and offers others that seem to be his own. No man before or since has known more about running an affluent household, from keeping vermin out of linen to shopping in the market to caring for hunting hawks. The work has a peculiar tone, bossy yet tender, even elegiac. In their introduction the translators emphasize the husband's firm desire to subordinate his wife, but acknowledge that they found the book more appealing than they had originally expected.

-- Paul Freedman ― Times Literary Supplement

Review

This new―and first complete―English translation of the Ménagier de Paris makes available to a broad audience one of the key texts for our understanding of late medieval mentalities. Its lively language, excellent introduction, and copious notes make this guide to good living in every sense (from moral instruction to recipes for delicious meals) useful to students, scholars, and anyone interested in medieval culture.

-- Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, University of Pittsburgh

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cornell University Press; First Edition (February 15, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0801474744
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0801474743
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 0.88 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
47 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ron
5.0 out of 5 stars I am a bad wife I guess
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2016
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But now I know what to do to be a good one!

*"Regarding domestic animals, witness that a greyhound, mastiff, or small dog, whether it is walking on the road, at table, or in bed, always stays closest to the person from whom he takes his food and neglects and is distant and timid with all others. If the dog is far off, he always has his heart and eye on his master. Even if his master beats him or casts stones at him, the dog follows him, wagging his tail and fawning before his master to appease him."

*Raise a whole bunch of hawks

*Only read correspondence that is from my husband; if I get correspondence from anyone else, pretend I only know how to read his handwriting

*"Steer clear of swaggering, idle young men who live beyond their means, and who, possessing no land or lineage, become dancers." That is actually some solid advice.

*"this word 'obedience' can be understood and explained as: in any situation, under any terms, in any place or season, you must perform without objecting all his orders whatever they may be. For recognize that since he is a rational man and of natural good sense, he will not command anything without cause and will not let you do anything unreasonable."

*"When the husbands perceive that the wives are becoming less solicitous and more domineering and that something awful could come of tolerating the situation, the wives are felled with one stroke, by their husbands' rightful will, just as was Lucifer, the leader of the angels of Paradise, whom our Lord so loved that He allowed and tolerated him to do as he pleased, whereby Lucifer grew haughty with pride and presumptuousness."

*"If you cannot prevent him from abusing you in anger, take care not to complain to your friends or anyone else, since should he discover your conversations, he would be bound to regard you unfavorably because of the disclosure, and he would not forget about it. Rather, go into your chamber and weep gently and quietly in a low voice and complain to God. That is what wise ladies do."

It is very much like a proto-"Fascinating Womanhood," and some college student would find the comparison a profitable subject for a paper.
11 people found this helpful
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Jamie
5.0 out of 5 stars ... was abridged to remove everything religious and that was sad because it was such a huge part of the ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2016
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i received a version of this that was abridged to remove everything religious and that was sad because it was such a huge part of the life and custom in this era. When I purchased this book it wasn't as pretty as the abridged version but it is all here intact presented and I found it so much more useful in my living history research!
8 people found this helpful
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Anne Babson
4.0 out of 5 stars interesting -- but sometimes really creepy
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2013
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Who knew how to clean out the guts of one's hunting falcon if it gets indigestion? Who knew how many dead animals one merchant would eat at a late 14th-Century banquet?

That said, the Menagier de Paris was a creepy muthah. Written in a condescending didactic voice to his fifteen year-old bride, mostly urging her not to cheat on him with veiled threats and horrible misogynistic exempla, planning to train her like a circus dog for her next husband (!), this dirty old man is a control freak -- think of Martha Stewart with more legal rights over others.

Greco's translation is quite good. I read the original in Middle French, and she has made this text accessible.

This books lets me know that if they ever invent a time machine, I'm not going to 14th Century Paris unless I am disguised as a man, like a Shakespearean heroine.
9 people found this helpful
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J. L. R. Reed
5.0 out of 5 stars This is the "Le Menagier de Paris" to own
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2009
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The Good Wife's Guide is a marvelous glance into a late 14th century household guide book. The work was written by a Parisian man for his very young bride. It contains suggestions for running the household, morality, selecting servants, guidance of purchasing and caring for horses, and a treatise on hawking.

This work is the first complete English translation. The authors are professors of English and French whose skills really complement each other in bringing this work to light.
27 people found this helpful
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SUSANNE HIBBERT
5.0 out of 5 stars Old husband gives house hold advise to his very young wife
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2015
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I read it all the way through, gave a program and still have it on my shelf with the other research books on life in the Middle Ages.
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Frances S. Heales
5.0 out of 5 stars Early tips for housekeeping
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2013
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This book gives a rare insight into the role of the medieval housewife, it was written by a man, which is unusual, but thought provoking
2 people found this helpful
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Talia Amador
5.0 out of 5 stars good condition!
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2013
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perfect! book looks like new. there was no signs of wear. also no highlighting or pen markers. is in great condition
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Gail A. Kellogg
4.0 out of 5 stars The intro is good for college students in certain classes
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2015
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The intro is good for college students in certain classes, but the translation was what I was after. It's a good translation. Be aware that the book is complete for what was originally written/preserved, but the table of contents has more than the book itself. The section on games is absent (weep, sob). 100% worth it for the recipes if you like redacting.
5 people found this helpful
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Jessica Strider
4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of interesting information - but a product of its time.
Reviewed in Canada on August 24, 2021
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Pros: faithful translation that mentions prior work done on the text, lots of textual notes and introductory pieces to help with comprehension, lots of interesting information about life in the middle ages

Cons: medieval writing tends to be dry and I found it hard to read more than a few pages at a time without a break

This is a translation of the French medieval household book Le Ménagier de Paris. It consists of an introduction, which includes background information, what life was like in Paris at the time of it’s writing, and a gloss of The Tale of Griselda. The text itself consists of several parts talking about good conduct (prayer, behaviour, dress, chastity, virtues & vices, obedience to one’s husband, etc), horticulture, choosing servants, hawking, menus, and recipes. There are introductory passages every few sections so you have a good idea of what the book will discuss next, as well as excellent page notes (many of which detail translation decisions) and a very useful glossary of culinary terms to help with the last 2 sections of the book and a bibliography.

The premise of the text is that of an older husband writing a book for his new young wife so that she will be properly trained and able to manage a household for her second husband after the author’s death. The book goes into a fair amount of detail regarding some items (there are a lot of recipes and detailed information on the virtues & vices, breaking down the various ways people sin and how it’s important to confess). There are also some long morality tales about how it’s important to obey one’s husband and be long-suffering, even if your husband tries your patience or tests you.

I found it very interesting what a woman in 14th C Paris was expected to know, even if it’s unknown if the author’s ‘young wife’ actually existed. The cooking section mentioned where to buy certain ingredients and how much they cost. The hawking section was very detailed about how much work was involved, all of which had to be done by the person intending to fly the hawk (so servants couldn’t train the bird for you). The moralistic tales are fairly long winded and get boring after a while. The Tale of Griselda is kind of infuriating as a modern reader and even the author’s response to it implies he doesn’t agree with the husband’s actions, but thought it was worth including anyway.

I wish the author had finished his planned book and included the games and entertainments he’d intended. I think those might have been quite interesting to learn about.

There’s a lot of great information here, but you’ll probably have to read it in small doses to stay engaged. The translators did a fantastic job of keeping the language easy to understand, but medieval texts tend to be on the dry side.
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Alan Krempler
5.0 out of 5 stars Sehr interessant!
Reviewed in Germany on March 3, 2024
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Also wirklich sehr interessant
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Kate
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2015
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This is a new translation of Le Menagier de Paris, which is an interesting book. The Menagier is a guide written by an older Parisian man for his (very young) wife, and it covers everything from sex advice to how much she should pay for beef and where she should buy it to how she should plan a meal for six, twelve, or sixty. It's a unique look into late medieval France, including not just the obvious but also gender relations and social arrangements.
3 people found this helpful
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