A Fool and His Money

October 30, 1995
Utilizing primary sources and skillful interpretation, Wroe, the American editor for the Economist, brings to life the medieval French town of Rodez in this engrossing cultural history that takes place during the Hundred Years War. Located in Languedoc (now southwestern France), Rodez was divided into halves with different governing bodies: the more spiritual ``City,'' where the cathedral was located and the people were loyal to the English Crown; and the ``Bourg,'' site of the commercial district and a fiefdom of the Kingdom of France. Although Bourg and City were separated by walls, their inhabitants occasionally interacted. Translating from court documents, Wroe details events taking place in 1369 or 1370, when a workman from the City discovered a pot of gold in a Bourg drain and sparked a legal battle over ownership of the gold between a Bourg man and his father-in-law. Although Wroe was unable to discover the outcome of the case, she successfully illuminates the texture of medieval life in the town.