82. France: The Enemy, Part 5, Psychology of Peasants and Nobles

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We continue our social history with a look at the Psychology of Peasants and Nobles, with Jon Elster as our guide.

For nobles we track some of the thornier problems of noble identity, the cult of ancestry, its implications for personal behavior and its sometimes self destructive nature.   We also have a lighter look at the obsession over wit and the bon mot.   "The best lands require manure."  And the relevance of Amadis of Gaul.

For peasants we are mainly looking at the difficulties of life and the sources of the 10,000 documented incidents of peasant violence.