The Virtuous Pagan in Middle English Literature

The Virtuous Pagan in Middle English Literature
Author: Cindy L. Vitto
Publisher: American Philosophical Society
Total Pages: 108
Release: 1989
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780871697950

For pious Christians of every age, the question of ultimate concern has been salvation: What is necessary to ensure the soul's eternal bliss? During the Middle Ages, within the Church itself, the guidelines were clear: baptism, reception of the sacraments, an attempt to put into practice the teachings of Christ. But a theological debate arose on the possibility of salvation for those outside the Church, who fell into two basic categories: those who had been offered the Christian faith but had refused it, & those who, for reasons of chronology or geography, lacked the opportunity to join the Church but lived as virtuously as possible. Two categories of these "virtuous pagans" who received special attention were the classical poets & philosophers of Greece & Rome, & the Old Testament patriarchs. From the standpoint of human reason, it seemed especially unfortunate that these two groups should be damned eternally. This study discusses the theological background of this issue; the Virtuous Pagan in legend & in Dante; St. Erkenwald's Harrowing of Hell; & "Piers Plowman": Issues in Salvation & the Harrowing as Thematic Climax.

Middle English Saints' Legends

Middle English Saints' Legends
Author: John Scahill
Publisher: DS Brewer
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2005
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781843840596

Annotated bibliography covering two centuries of scholarly criticism on the extensive corpus of medieval saints' legends. with the assistance of Margaret RogersonSaints' legends are being increasingly recognised as one of the most important genres of the middle ages, and attract much critical attention. This volume surveys the scholarly literatureof the nineteenth and twentieth centuries on the extensive Middle English corpus. It also provides a conspectus of the genre's history in the Middle English period, and its place in the development of the modern discipline of Middle English, while both the introduction and the annotations give attention to the problematic boundaries between genres and to the issues involved in separating out texts from their manuscript contexts. General studies of the corpus as a whole are covered, as well as discussions and editions of individual legends, of the various extended cycles of legends, and of sermon collections that include hagiographic legends and exempla; the volume has been structured so as to provide an overview of the research on major works [for example the South English Legendary and St Erkenwald], and authors such as Osbern Bokenham, John Capgrave, William Caxton and John Mirk. It includesan Index of Scholars and Critics keyed to the Bibliography, an Index of Middle English Texts that covers all works, of whatever genre, mentioned in the annotations, and an Index of Manuscripts that gathers the references to the over 170 manuscripts cited.

St. Erkenwald

St. Erkenwald
Author: Ruth Morse
Publisher: D. S. Brewer
Total Pages: 111
Release: 1975
Genre: Christian poetry, English (Middle)
ISBN: 9780859910095

The Saint of London

The Saint of London
Author: E. Gordon Whatley
Publisher: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS)
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1989
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

An Anatomy of Trade in Medieval Writing

An Anatomy of Trade in Medieval Writing
Author: Lianna Farber
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2006
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780801444128

"Economics, in our modern sense of the term, was not a discipline in the Middle Ages, although the history of economic thought is often written as though it were. Lianna Farber restores the core economic concept of trade to its medieval contexts, showing that it contains three component parts: value, consent, and community. Medieval writing about trade not only relies on these elements, it presents them as unproblematic." "By addressing texts in which each element of trade is discussed directly, Farber demonstrates that this straightforward picture is falsely reassuring. In fact, these ideas were deeply contested. In the end, Farber reveals, writing about trade was not descriptive but argumentative, analyzing the act in an attempt to justify it. Such texts reveal deep intellectual uncertainties about the market society they advocated. An Anatomy of Trade in Medieval Writing benefits from Farber's close reading of literary sources, among them the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer and Robert Henryson; theological sources, including the writing of Thomas Aquinas and Richard of Middleton; and legal sources such as the canon law on marriage formation. A contribution to our understanding of medieval life and thought, this book implies a need to reconsider the genealogy of economics as a way of thinking about the world."--BOOK JACKET.

Medieval Allegory and the Building of the New Jerusalem

Medieval Allegory and the Building of the New Jerusalem
Author: Ann Raftery Meyer
Publisher: DS Brewer
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2003
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780859917964

The chantry movement in late medieval England is situated in this context, and leads to a demonstration of the movement's associations with the highly-wrought poem Pearl and its companion poems; the book analyses Pearl as medieval architecture, offering fresh perspectives on its elaborate construction and historical context."--BOOK JACKET.

St. Paul's

St. Paul's
Author: Lecturer in Modern British History Arthur Burns
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 564
Release: 2004-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0300092768

The present St Paul's Cathedral, Christopher Wren's masterpiece, is the fourth religious building to occupy the site. Its location in the heart of the capital reflects its importance in the English church while the photographs of it burning during the Blitz forms one of the most powerful and familiar images of London during recent times. This substantial and richly illustrated study, published to mark the 1,400th anniversary of St Paul's, presents 42 scholarly contributions which approach the cathedral from a range of perspectives. All are supported by photographs, illustrations and plans of the exterior and interior of St Paul's, both past and present. Eight essays discuss the history of St Paul's, demonstrating the role of the cathedral in the formation of England's church and state from the 7th century onwards; nine essays examine the organisation and function of the cathedral during the Middle Ages, looking at, for example, the arrangement of the precinct, the tombs, the Dean's household during the 15th century, the liturgy and the archaeology. The remaining papers examine many aspects of Wren's cathedral, including its construction, fittings and embellishments, its estates and income, music and rituals, its place in London, its library, its role in the book trade and its reputation.

The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry Before 1600

The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry Before 1600
Author: Michelle M. Sauer
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2008
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 1438108346

Some of the most important authors in British poetry left their mark onliterature before 1600, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, and, of course, William Shakespeare. "The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry before 1600"is an encyclopedic guide to British poetry from the beginnings to theyear 1600, featuring approximately 600 entries ranging in length from300 to 2,500 words.