A new look at the way in which medieval European literature depicts torture and brutality.

Introduction
Rending the Flesh: The Orthodoxy of Torture in Hagiography
Resisting the Rod: Torture and the Anxieties of Continental Identity
The Matter of the North: Icelandic Sagas and Cultural Autonomy
The Matter of Britain: Defining English Identity in Opposition to Torture
Laughing at Pain: The Comic Uses of Torture and Brutality
Medieval Torture and Early-Modern Identity - Jay Paul Gates
Conclusion
Select Bibliography

Larissa Tracy is Professor of Medieval Literature at Longwood University. She has published extensively on medieval violence and its intersections with literature, law, medicine, and social identity.