France, World, European, History, Political Science 

In The Three Orders, prominent Annales historian Georges Duby offers a tripartite construct of medieval French society, a construct which depicts men separating themselves hierarchically into those who pray, those who fight, and those who work. He considers how this medieval theory of orders originated, discusses its complex history, and shows how different interests - cultural, political, and economic - were involved in its creation and use. The Three Orders show how the tripartite schema came to occupy a central position in social thought and clarifies the manner in which feudal society viewed itself.

"The Three Orders is a brilliant book, superbly reflecting the author's special scholarly style and remarkable intellectual power. . . . To the best of my knowledge, there is no scholarly work which, taken as a whole, even remotely resembles it. Yet every medieval historian is aware of the tripartite schema as a major medieval social doctrine, perhaps the major theory." - Robert L Benson, University of California, Los Angeles

"In fixing on the idea of the three orders. . . . Duby tackles a theme which has been little examined and adds a new aspect to the intellectual history of the period." - George Holmes, Times Higher Education Supplement

Georges Duby is professor at the College de France. His other books include The Age of the Cathedrals: Art and Society, 980-1420, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Taken from the back cover.

Translated by Arthur Goldhammer

With a foreword by Thomas N Bisson