Cox, Darrin

Dr. Darrin Cox earned his Ph.D. in Late Medieval/Early Modern History from Purdue University in 2008. He is currently an Assistant Professor of History at West Liberty University where he continues his research into masculinity, Viking history, and material culture.

Aristocratic Masculinity in France (1450-1550): From Knight to Courtier

2012 0-7734-2927-1
Looks at how masculinity is depicted in knightly memoirs in 15th century France. The meaning of male and female sexuality was constructed on a hierarchical scale of one single gender, and not a binary opposition of two biologically distinct bodies. The author shows numerous examples of this trend in the knightly memoirs that support this understanding. By the end of the sixteenth century, it is evident that a gender crisis did not occur among noble warriors, since men who styled themselves knights merely adopted many of the outward forms of the courtier while retaining a right to violence as both a mark of nobility and signifier of manhood.