Summary
Robert Muchembled: A history of violence from the end of the Middle Ages to the present day
Modern times bring violence to the light of the stage. A topic dear to sociologists and politicians, which is also the subject of historical studies. Contrary to the prevailing understanding, Robert Muchembled shows that brutality and the rate of murders have been in constant decline from the 13th century to the present day. Increasingly strict social control of young unmarried men, followed by forced education of the same peer groups, can explain this decline in aggressiveness. Little by little, male violence disappears from the public space, only to focus on the private sphere, while popular literature takes on a cathartic role. The beginning of the XXI century seems to mark the reappearance of violence, especially in the "suburbs". Will man become a wolf to man again?
Robert Muchembled was born in 1944 in Liévin, France. He is one of the most famous contemporary French historians, a professor of modern history at the University of Paris-Nord and a guest lecturer at several American universities. His areas of interest are the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, civic culture, the history of crime and sexuality, and his research into the phenomenon of witches is particularly important. The most important works: "The Invention of Modern Man", "The History of Greater Paris", "Society, Culture and Mentalities in Modern France", "Popular Culture and Elite Culture in Modern France", "The Witch in the Village", "Orgasm and the West - a story of pleasure from the 16th century to the present day", "Women's Passions", "History of Violence".
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