And although Hugo had no formal training in medieval history or literature, he truly ought to be considered something of a medievalist avant la lettre. Leaving aside the tragic love for the beautiful Esmeralda by that most timeless of characters, Quasimodo, the novel is an important gauge of nineteenth-century medievalism and a wonderful point of entry for students coming to the European Middle Ages for the first time. Published just one year after the July Revolution toppled the restoration monarchy of the Bourbon King Charles X, replacing him with the constitutional monarchy of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Hugo’s tale of France’s most iconic medieval edifice has endured even as monarchies have risen and fallen and as allegiances to the Catholic Church has markedly declined. Set in medieval Paris, Victor Hugo’s classic historical romance The Hunchback of Notre Dame has resonated with succeeding generations of readers since its initial publication in 1831.
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