Matrons and Marginal Women in Medieval Society

Matrons and Marginal Women in Medieval Society
Author: Robert Edwards
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 156
Release: 1995
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780851153803

Exploration of differences between women: good women who were absorbed into society, and those whose social role condemned them to its fringes.

Intersections of Sexuality and the Divine in Medieval Culture

Intersections of Sexuality and the Divine in Medieval Culture
Author: Susannah Chewning
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2017-03-02
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1351926357

As distinct from the many recent collections and studies of medieval literature and culture that have focused on gender and sexuality as their major themes, this collection considers and serves to re-think and re-situate religion and sexuality together. Including 'traditional' works such as Chaucer and the Pearl-poet, as well as less well known and studied texts - such as alchemical texts and the Wohunge group - the contributors here focus on the meeting point of these two often-examined concepts. They seek an understanding of where sex and religion distinguish themselves from one another, and where they do not. This volume locates the Divine and the Erotic within the continuum of experience and devotion that characterize the paradox of the medieval world. Not merely original in their approaches, these authors seek a new vision of how these two inter-connected themes - sexuality and the Divine - meet, connect, distinguish themselves, and merge within medieval life, language, and literature.

High-Ranking Widows in Medieval Iceland and Yorkshire

High-Ranking Widows in Medieval Iceland and Yorkshire
Author: Philadelphia Ricketts
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2010-09-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004189475

This book provides an evocative insight into the property, power, remarriage, and identity of high-ranking widows in two fundamentally different societies, Iceland and Yorkshire. The legal position of widows in each region is examined in light of evidence from charters, royal records and sagas to establish a detailed picture of practice. Comparison and family reconstruction are important elements, enabling the book to emphasize the placement of widows within the context of society and its institutions, and to consider fully the impact of individual circumstances on the widows’ opportunities for action. The result offers a fresh approach that tests widely accepted generalizations about widows’ independence, highlights differences between regions, and suggests the need to reconsider traditional, rigid definitions of kinship systems.

Religious Life in Normandy, 1050-1300

Religious Life in Normandy, 1050-1300
Author: Leonie V. Hicks
Publisher: Boydell Press
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2007
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781843833291

Presenting new light on the reality of religious life in Normandy, the author uses ideas about space and gender to examine the social pressures arising from such interaction around four main themes: display, reception and intrusion, enclosure and the family.

The Boundaries of the Human in Medieval English Literature

The Boundaries of the Human in Medieval English Literature
Author: Dorothy Yamamoto
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2000
Genre: Animals in literature
ISBN: 9780198186748

This study analyzes the fear of beastly transformation that recurs throughout Medieval literature. Yamamoto explores how humans envisioned animals with human characteristics in bestiaries and literatures that involve aspects of the hunt and heraldry. Minor texts, as well as major works likeChaucer's "Knight's Tale," are investigated. Additionally, she explores both examples of humans changing into animal form and those that hover enigmatically between species as wild men and women. Investigating this topic, she looks to Alexander romances, the poetry of Gower, and othersources.

Women in Medieval English Society

Women in Medieval English Society
Author: Mavis E. Mate
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 132
Release: 1999-08-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521587334

Written primarily for undergraduates, this book weighs the evidence for and against the various theories relating to the position of women at different time periods. Professor Mate examines the major issues deciding the position of women in medieval English society, asking questions such as, did women enjoy a rough equality in the Anglo-Saxon period that they subsequently lost? Did queens at certain periods exercise real political clout or was their power limited to questions of patronage? Did women's participation in the economy grant them considerable independence and allow them to postpone or delay marriage? Professor Mate also demonstrates that class, as well as gender, was very important in determining age at marriage and opportunities for power and influence. Although some women at certain times did make short-term gains, Professor Mate challenges the dominant view that major transformations in women's position occurred in the century after the Black Death.

Signs of Devotion

Signs of Devotion
Author: Virginia Blanton
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2010-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0271047984

Perspectives on Feminist Political Thought in European History

Perspectives on Feminist Political Thought in European History
Author: Tjitske Akkerman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2013-06-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136189718

Spanning six centuries of political thought in European history, this book puts the ideas of thinkers from Christine de Pizan to Simone de Beauvoir in the broader contexts of their time. This intriguing collection of essays shows that feminism is not a varient of modern radical discourse but a mode of analysing the issues of authority, power and virtue that have been at the heart of European political thought from the middle ages.

Hedonizing Technologies

Hedonizing Technologies
Author: Rachel Maines
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2009-06-09
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 0801891469

The book addresses basic issues in the history of labor and industry and makes an original contribution to the discussion of how technology and people interact.