"The Return of Martin Guerre" by Natalie Zemon Davis

"The Return of Martin Guerre" is a novel about French lifestyle of the 1500's. During the 16th century in France, the majority of people were not literate, so recording the events of their everyday lives, thoughts and other things was rarely done. Zemon Davis' portrayal of village inhabitants in the story shows how much historical research she must have put into her work. Even without positive proof or knowledge of what life was like at …

…identity began, Davis writes that the local supporters of the new protestant religion would have tended to believe the imposter Martin, but the Catholics sided with Martin's uncle, Pierre. The relaxed and less restricting Protestant laws appealed to most people and eventually started to spread throughout France. Even if the story is not completely true, it still is very compelling and really makes you think about how primitive society was back in the 16th century.