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Cosmopolitanism and Medievalism
Abstract
Cosmopolitan ideas flourished during the Enlightenment, which also viewed the Middle Ages as antithetical to such ideas. However, some recent representations of the Middle Ages in film and literature focus on heroic defenses of cosmopolitan ideals in the Middle Ages. This essay surveys some arguments about medieval cosmopolitanism and concludes that cosmopolitan and anti-cosmopolitan positions often existed simultaneously within the same discourse or narrative. Chaucer, Gower, and Mandeville are briefly discussed as examples. © 2010 Maney Publishing.
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