UA professor Constance Bouchard has released her latest historical book, “Rewriting Saints and Ancestors: Memory and Forgetting in France, 500-1200.” Bouchard examines how certain inaccurate accounts of medieval French authors are a necessity for a better understanding of the medieval time period.

Bouchard said that her newest piece of historical literature “puts post facto accounts of events at the forefront; accounts that may not give us much historically accurate detail on what actually happened, but do tell us a tremendous amount about how the authors liked to think or hope the events occurred.”

Bouchard said that these thinkers went beyond just recording the events that had taken place and that they used creativity to transform the past into something more amenable with their preconceptions and biases. This is something that she defines as “creative memory.”

Amy Remensnyder of Brown University described Bouchard’s latest work as “a substantial, important and complex book, the fruit of her deep engagement with a range of issues relating to early medieval memory in the area that would become France.”

In her book, Bouchard examines and explains the political changes that took place during this period of French history.

Bouchard, who specializes in medieval European history, has written a number of books, including “Those of My Blood,” “Life and Society of the West” and “Knights: In History and Legend.” Each of these books is focused primarily on a specific topic such as chivalry and nobility.

Bouchard’s respective works are in-depth and informational. They are highly recommended for anyone with a great interest in medieval history.