Burgess Professor of French Roberta Krueger has contributed an introductory essay, “Teach Your Children Well: Medieval Conduct Guides for Youths,” in Medieval Conduct Literature: An Anthology of Vernacular Guides to Behaviour for Youths, with English Translations (ed. Mark D. Johnston). It is published for the Medieval Academy of America by the University of Toronto Press.

Krueger’s essay provides an introduction to the genre and an overview of selected didactic texts written between 1200-1500 in French, Occitan, German, Italian, Spanish and Middle English for young men and women in royal, noble and bourgeois households. As they circulated throughout the European Middle Ages in diverse styles and formats, medieval conduct books imparted instruction on a wide range of social practices, from pious prayers, courteous speech, and decorous table manners to proper dress and wifely obedience.