J. M. Wallace‐Hadrill
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269069
- eISBN:
- 9780191600777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269064.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Discusses the development, nature and role of the most characteristic form of Merovingian literature, the Lives of the Saints. This can be seen in the volumes of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, ...
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Discusses the development, nature and role of the most characteristic form of Merovingian literature, the Lives of the Saints. This can be seen in the volumes of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, and also in an enormous number of manuscripts that contain collections of them, most of which are from the 12th to 14th centuries, although some are earlier. They are not ‘biographies’ in the usual sense of the word, but are rather an elaborate literary exercise conducted by the Frankish Church to attract and hold popular devotion (they were to be read aloud on saints’ feast days), to define the nature of sanctity, and to keep the cult of holy men within the structure of the Church. The various Lives written by Gregory, Venantius, Jonas and others are discussed, and the changes in the sort of Saint's Life wanted by the Church in the 12th century described, of which the most significant was the inclusion of the Lives of martyred political bishops. Later Merovingian Lives are richer in personal and political detail, although they were still composed as proofs of sanctity as traditionally understood.Less
Discusses the development, nature and role of the most characteristic form of Merovingian literature, the Lives of the Saints. This can be seen in the volumes of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, and also in an enormous number of manuscripts that contain collections of them, most of which are from the 12th to 14th centuries, although some are earlier. They are not ‘biographies’ in the usual sense of the word, but are rather an elaborate literary exercise conducted by the Frankish Church to attract and hold popular devotion (they were to be read aloud on saints’ feast days), to define the nature of sanctity, and to keep the cult of holy men within the structure of the Church. The various Lives written by Gregory, Venantius, Jonas and others are discussed, and the changes in the sort of Saint's Life wanted by the Church in the 12th century described, of which the most significant was the inclusion of the Lives of martyred political bishops. Later Merovingian Lives are richer in personal and political detail, although they were still composed as proofs of sanctity as traditionally understood.
Sheila Delany
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195109887
- eISBN:
- 9780199855216
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109887.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This book breaks important ground in 15th-century scholarship, a critical site of cultural study. The book examines the work of English Augustinian friar Osbern Bokenham, and explores the relations ...
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This book breaks important ground in 15th-century scholarship, a critical site of cultural study. The book examines the work of English Augustinian friar Osbern Bokenham, and explores the relations of history and literature in this particularly turbulent period in English history, beginning with The Wars of the Roses and moving on to the Hundred Years War. The book examines the first collection of all female saints' lives in any language: Legends of Holy Women composed by Bokenham between 1443 and 1447. The book is organized around the image of the body—a medieval procedure becoming popular once again in current attention to the social construction of the body. One emphasis is Bokenham's relation to the body of English literature, particularly Chaucer, the symbolic head of the 15th century. Another emphasis is a focus on the genre of saints' lives, particularly female saints' lives, with their striking use of the body of the saint to generate meaning. Finally, the image of the body politic, the controlling image of medieval political thought is given, and Bokenham's means to examine the political and dynastic crises of 15th-century England. The book uses these three major concerns to explain the literary innovation of Bokenham's Legend, and the larger and political importance of that innovation.Less
This book breaks important ground in 15th-century scholarship, a critical site of cultural study. The book examines the work of English Augustinian friar Osbern Bokenham, and explores the relations of history and literature in this particularly turbulent period in English history, beginning with The Wars of the Roses and moving on to the Hundred Years War. The book examines the first collection of all female saints' lives in any language: Legends of Holy Women composed by Bokenham between 1443 and 1447. The book is organized around the image of the body—a medieval procedure becoming popular once again in current attention to the social construction of the body. One emphasis is Bokenham's relation to the body of English literature, particularly Chaucer, the symbolic head of the 15th century. Another emphasis is a focus on the genre of saints' lives, particularly female saints' lives, with their striking use of the body of the saint to generate meaning. Finally, the image of the body politic, the controlling image of medieval political thought is given, and Bokenham's means to examine the political and dynastic crises of 15th-century England. The book uses these three major concerns to explain the literary innovation of Bokenham's Legend, and the larger and political importance of that innovation.
Richard Sharpe
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198215820
- eISBN:
- 9780191678219
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198215820.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, History of Religion
This is a study of three important late medieval collections of saints' Lives. The manuscripts, written in Latin and, for the most part, relating to the lives of Irish saints, have never before been ...
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This is a study of three important late medieval collections of saints' Lives. The manuscripts, written in Latin and, for the most part, relating to the lives of Irish saints, have never before been subject to critical examination. The book addresses such questions as when and where the Lives were compiled, and from what sources they derive. It sets its own treatment of the collections within the wider context of Irish hagiographical studies. It sets out and resolves complex problems of historical and linguistic evidence.Less
This is a study of three important late medieval collections of saints' Lives. The manuscripts, written in Latin and, for the most part, relating to the lives of Irish saints, have never before been subject to critical examination. The book addresses such questions as when and where the Lives were compiled, and from what sources they derive. It sets its own treatment of the collections within the wider context of Irish hagiographical studies. It sets out and resolves complex problems of historical and linguistic evidence.
Allyson M. Poska
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199265312
- eISBN:
- 9780191708763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199265312.003.06
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
The authority afforded to women in early modern Galicia was shaped and perpetuated through local folklore and legends. Over the centuries, Galicians formulated a wide variety of images of powerful ...
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The authority afforded to women in early modern Galicia was shaped and perpetuated through local folklore and legends. Over the centuries, Galicians formulated a wide variety of images of powerful women from Reina Loba, who according to legend, permitted the Christianization of the region, to María Pita to whom they attribute the valiant defense of the city of A Coruña against British forces. Popular saints' lives were reformulated to reflect the region's gender norms. Long-standing beliefs in the power of witches in the region reveal significant gender tensions in a culture so reliant on female power. The cultural images of powerful women reiterated in local legends and songs not only provided role models for female behavior, but also perpetuated notions of female authority during periods of demographic and economic change.Less
The authority afforded to women in early modern Galicia was shaped and perpetuated through local folklore and legends. Over the centuries, Galicians formulated a wide variety of images of powerful women from Reina Loba, who according to legend, permitted the Christianization of the region, to María Pita to whom they attribute the valiant defense of the city of A Coruña against British forces. Popular saints' lives were reformulated to reflect the region's gender norms. Long-standing beliefs in the power of witches in the region reveal significant gender tensions in a culture so reliant on female power. The cultural images of powerful women reiterated in local legends and songs not only provided role models for female behavior, but also perpetuated notions of female authority during periods of demographic and economic change.
JOCELYN WOGAN-BROWNE
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198112792
- eISBN:
- 9780191707599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112792.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Women's Literature
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the literary culture of women in medieval England. It describes the focuses of the book, which is on saints' lives and their importance for ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the literary culture of women in medieval England. It describes the focuses of the book, which is on saints' lives and their importance for women. A primary concern is the pervasiveness of virginity as a cultural ideal and form of exemplary biography for women. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the literary culture of women in medieval England. It describes the focuses of the book, which is on saints' lives and their importance for women. A primary concern is the pervasiveness of virginity as a cultural ideal and form of exemplary biography for women. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.
Thomas Pratsch
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262924
- eISBN:
- 9780191734434
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262924.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the German theologian Albert Ehrhardt wrote a chapter on the History Byzantine Literature. It included a paragraph on hagiography, where he compared ...
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Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the German theologian Albert Ehrhardt wrote a chapter on the History Byzantine Literature. It included a paragraph on hagiography, where he compared Byzantine hagiographical literature to a ‘thick jungle with no path leading into its interior’. His remark touches upon one major problem of hagiography: the correct distinction between fact and fiction. Two extreme points of view have been developed with regard to the value of hagiographical texts as historical sources. According to one, hagiography provides valuable information about some aspects of daily life in Byzantium. It stresses the idea that hagiography contains hard facts. According to the second point of view, hagiography is mere fiction. Saints' Lives are hagiographical novels that tell us nothing about the saint and his life, and may at best reveal something about the author's intentions and the historical situation at the time of writing.Less
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the German theologian Albert Ehrhardt wrote a chapter on the History Byzantine Literature. It included a paragraph on hagiography, where he compared Byzantine hagiographical literature to a ‘thick jungle with no path leading into its interior’. His remark touches upon one major problem of hagiography: the correct distinction between fact and fiction. Two extreme points of view have been developed with regard to the value of hagiographical texts as historical sources. According to one, hagiography provides valuable information about some aspects of daily life in Byzantium. It stresses the idea that hagiography contains hard facts. According to the second point of view, hagiography is mere fiction. Saints' Lives are hagiographical novels that tell us nothing about the saint and his life, and may at best reveal something about the author's intentions and the historical situation at the time of writing.
Thorlac Turville-Petre
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198122791
- eISBN:
- 9780191671548
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198122791.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This book pays attention to the earlier fourteenth century in England as a literary period in its own right. It surveys the wide range of writings by the generation before Geoffrey Chaucer, and ...
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This book pays attention to the earlier fourteenth century in England as a literary period in its own right. It surveys the wide range of writings by the generation before Geoffrey Chaucer, and explores how English writers in the half-century leading up to the outbreak of the Hundred Years War expressed their concepts of England as a nation, and how they exploited the association between nation, people, and language. At the centre of this work is a study of the construction of national identity that takes place in the histories written in English. The contributions of romances and saints' lives to an awareness of the nation's past are also considered, as is the question of how writers were able to reconcile their sense of regional identity with commitment to the nation. A final chapter explores the interrelationship between England's three languages, Latin, French and English, at a time when English was attaining the status of the national language. Middle English quotations are translated into modern English throughout.Less
This book pays attention to the earlier fourteenth century in England as a literary period in its own right. It surveys the wide range of writings by the generation before Geoffrey Chaucer, and explores how English writers in the half-century leading up to the outbreak of the Hundred Years War expressed their concepts of England as a nation, and how they exploited the association between nation, people, and language. At the centre of this work is a study of the construction of national identity that takes place in the histories written in English. The contributions of romances and saints' lives to an awareness of the nation's past are also considered, as is the question of how writers were able to reconcile their sense of regional identity with commitment to the nation. A final chapter explores the interrelationship between England's three languages, Latin, French and English, at a time when English was attaining the status of the national language. Middle English quotations are translated into modern English throughout.
Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198112792
- eISBN:
- 9780191707599
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112792.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Women's Literature
This book argues that, in the multilingual culture of medieval England, the French of England needs to be taken into account alongside the English writings of figures such as Margery Kempe and Julian ...
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This book argues that, in the multilingual culture of medieval England, the French of England needs to be taken into account alongside the English writings of figures such as Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich. This is by considering that the francophone literary culture of medieval women in England extends the usual model by some two centuries and greatly enlarges the corpus of texts written by and for women, particularly from c. 1100-c.1300 and beyond. The book explores and demonstrates this contention by focussing on the discourses of virginity and the saints' lives composed by women, together with traditions of women's patronage and composition both as individuals and in female communities. Virginity is explored as a potential model of agency for women and the book examines the capacity of the virgin to give as well as to be given in the texts and documents of the period.Less
This book argues that, in the multilingual culture of medieval England, the French of England needs to be taken into account alongside the English writings of figures such as Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich. This is by considering that the francophone literary culture of medieval women in England extends the usual model by some two centuries and greatly enlarges the corpus of texts written by and for women, particularly from c. 1100-c.1300 and beyond. The book explores and demonstrates this contention by focussing on the discourses of virginity and the saints' lives composed by women, together with traditions of women's patronage and composition both as individuals and in female communities. Virginity is explored as a potential model of agency for women and the book examines the capacity of the virgin to give as well as to be given in the texts and documents of the period.
Simon Ditchfield
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199594795
- eISBN:
- 9780191741494
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199594795.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Religion and Literature
Writers in the service of the post-Tridentine Church responded not only to Protestant challenges but also to a range of internal needs — jurisdictional, liturgical, and theological — most of which ...
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Writers in the service of the post-Tridentine Church responded not only to Protestant challenges but also to a range of internal needs — jurisdictional, liturgical, and theological — most of which predated the Reformation. Post-Tridentine Catholic scholars reprinted early medieval works on the history of the Church and its saints in great number. However, with the resurgence of the Counter-Reformation papacy and the energetic worldwide expansion of Roman Catholicism, new works of Catholic historia sacra, many of them collaborative projects, were written and published on an unprecedented scale. This Catholic historical enterprise included both Roman-centred projects, such as the magnificent libraries — ‘arsenals of faith’ — as well as the creation of the more famous Vatican archive. In addition, there were more provincial (if ultimately global) projects, such as the massive compendium of saints’ lives undertaken in the Low Countries by the Bollandists, the still incomplete Acta sanctorum.Less
Writers in the service of the post-Tridentine Church responded not only to Protestant challenges but also to a range of internal needs — jurisdictional, liturgical, and theological — most of which predated the Reformation. Post-Tridentine Catholic scholars reprinted early medieval works on the history of the Church and its saints in great number. However, with the resurgence of the Counter-Reformation papacy and the energetic worldwide expansion of Roman Catholicism, new works of Catholic historia sacra, many of them collaborative projects, were written and published on an unprecedented scale. This Catholic historical enterprise included both Roman-centred projects, such as the magnificent libraries — ‘arsenals of faith’ — as well as the creation of the more famous Vatican archive. In addition, there were more provincial (if ultimately global) projects, such as the massive compendium of saints’ lives undertaken in the Low Countries by the Bollandists, the still incomplete Acta sanctorum.
Elizabeth Archibald
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198112099
- eISBN:
- 9780191708497
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112099.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter on mother-son incest (the most serious kind for the Middle Ages) considers two main types of plot. When the incest is consummated, the issue is whether the protagonist(s) will confess, ...
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This chapter on mother-son incest (the most serious kind for the Middle Ages) considers two main types of plot. When the incest is consummated, the issue is whether the protagonist(s) will confess, do penance, and be saved. Saints' lives sometimes include a story of incestuous birth, and also double incest (unknown in classical stories), where the incestuously conceived son later unwittingly marries his mother, and sometimes kills his father too. The discovery of this sin drives him to penance, and later he becomes a pope (Gregorius) or a saint (Albanus). Here the Oedipus story finds a spiritually happy ending. In the case of Judas, however, the incest and parricide cannot be absolved. In exemplary versions, the mother is the protagonist, and knowingly sleeps with her son, but confesses in the end. In near-miss incest stories (often romances), the son and mother recognize each other in time, and a family reunion is the happy ending.Less
This chapter on mother-son incest (the most serious kind for the Middle Ages) considers two main types of plot. When the incest is consummated, the issue is whether the protagonist(s) will confess, do penance, and be saved. Saints' lives sometimes include a story of incestuous birth, and also double incest (unknown in classical stories), where the incestuously conceived son later unwittingly marries his mother, and sometimes kills his father too. The discovery of this sin drives him to penance, and later he becomes a pope (Gregorius) or a saint (Albanus). Here the Oedipus story finds a spiritually happy ending. In the case of Judas, however, the incest and parricide cannot be absolved. In exemplary versions, the mother is the protagonist, and knowingly sleeps with her son, but confesses in the end. In near-miss incest stories (often romances), the son and mother recognize each other in time, and a family reunion is the happy ending.
Andrew Kahn, Mark Lipovetsky, Irina Reyfman, and Stephanie Sandler
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199663941
- eISBN:
- 9780191770463
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199663941.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter discusses how texts established and perpetuated a link between the spiritual grace of Kievan and Northern Rus′ and monastic life. Hagiography, homily, and prayers, written in the ...
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This chapter discusses how texts established and perpetuated a link between the spiritual grace of Kievan and Northern Rus′ and monastic life. Hagiography, homily, and prayers, written in the monasteries and incorporated into local collections, helped disseminate core beliefs about the conversion of Vladimir in Kiev and an indelible link between the territory of Rus′—already seen as a magical place in folklore—and the Orthodox faith. The chapter charts the types of national and individual stories told in the literature. Textual production remained based in monasteries and stable as a manuscript culture, but new styles of writing altered and enhanced the rhetorical character of a wide range of forms, including, hagiography, legends, tales of miracles and holy fools, and sermons.Less
This chapter discusses how texts established and perpetuated a link between the spiritual grace of Kievan and Northern Rus′ and monastic life. Hagiography, homily, and prayers, written in the monasteries and incorporated into local collections, helped disseminate core beliefs about the conversion of Vladimir in Kiev and an indelible link between the territory of Rus′—already seen as a magical place in folklore—and the Orthodox faith. The chapter charts the types of national and individual stories told in the literature. Textual production remained based in monasteries and stable as a manuscript culture, but new styles of writing altered and enhanced the rhetorical character of a wide range of forms, including, hagiography, legends, tales of miracles and holy fools, and sermons.
Elizabeth Archibald
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198112099
- eISBN:
- 9780191708497
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112099.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Incest is a frequent motif in medieval literature. It was more broadly defined in the Middle Ages than today; definitions in lawcodes varied from century to century, but at its broadest incest meant ...
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Incest is a frequent motif in medieval literature. It was more broadly defined in the Middle Ages than today; definitions in lawcodes varied from century to century, but at its broadest incest meant sexual relations with any relative, however distant, including in-laws (consanguinity and affinity), and also with ‘spiritual relatives’ such as godparents, godchildren, and priests. The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the ways in which the incest motif was used during the Middle Ages, and especially from the 12th to the 15th centuries, when imaginative literature in vernacular languages as well as Latin was increasingly preserved in written form. The discussion covers narratives in a range of languages, principally Latin, French, German, and English, grouped by relationship (mother-son, father-daughter); it traces some of the ways in which particular types of incest plot were used and adapted by religious and secular writers in saints' lives, exemplary tales, romances, and chronicles. Recurring motifs include exposure of babies as foundlings, recognition scenes, violence (parricide, matricide, filicide, rape), confession, and penance. Women can initiate incestuous relationships, as well as men; the over-devoted mother is a popular theme in exempla. Literary analysis is framed by consideration of the social, historical, and theological contexts, medieval and earlier, such as the development of incest laws in Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian societies, the legacy of classical culture, and the exceptional trope of the Virgin Mary as mother, daughter, sister, and bride of Christ.Less
Incest is a frequent motif in medieval literature. It was more broadly defined in the Middle Ages than today; definitions in lawcodes varied from century to century, but at its broadest incest meant sexual relations with any relative, however distant, including in-laws (consanguinity and affinity), and also with ‘spiritual relatives’ such as godparents, godchildren, and priests. The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the ways in which the incest motif was used during the Middle Ages, and especially from the 12th to the 15th centuries, when imaginative literature in vernacular languages as well as Latin was increasingly preserved in written form. The discussion covers narratives in a range of languages, principally Latin, French, German, and English, grouped by relationship (mother-son, father-daughter); it traces some of the ways in which particular types of incest plot were used and adapted by religious and secular writers in saints' lives, exemplary tales, romances, and chronicles. Recurring motifs include exposure of babies as foundlings, recognition scenes, violence (parricide, matricide, filicide, rape), confession, and penance. Women can initiate incestuous relationships, as well as men; the over-devoted mother is a popular theme in exempla. Literary analysis is framed by consideration of the social, historical, and theological contexts, medieval and earlier, such as the development of incest laws in Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian societies, the legacy of classical culture, and the exceptional trope of the Virgin Mary as mother, daughter, sister, and bride of Christ.
Chris Wickham
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199264490
- eISBN:
- 9780191698934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199264490.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter presents various case studies involving peasants and local societies. It characterizes a set of individual social realities, located specifically in time and place. The set consists of: ...
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This chapter presents various case studies involving peasants and local societies. It characterizes a set of individual social realities, located specifically in time and place. The set consists of: the territory of Lucca in the eighth century; the middle Rhine in the eighth century; the Île de France in the seventh and eighth centuries; central Anatolia around 600; two large Egyptian villages, Aphroditõ in the sixth century and Jēme in the seventh and eighth; and a village in England in the seventh century. There are three main sources for discussion. The first one is some saints' lives, which occasionally can be used as a basis for their narrative assumptions about peasant perceptions and social relationships. The second one is law, particularly in the Romano–Germanic West, which gives direct evidence about peasant social practices. This evidence is given the greatest weight because medieval social history came out of legal history. The third types of source are charters and legal documents.Less
This chapter presents various case studies involving peasants and local societies. It characterizes a set of individual social realities, located specifically in time and place. The set consists of: the territory of Lucca in the eighth century; the middle Rhine in the eighth century; the Île de France in the seventh and eighth centuries; central Anatolia around 600; two large Egyptian villages, Aphroditõ in the sixth century and Jēme in the seventh and eighth; and a village in England in the seventh century. There are three main sources for discussion. The first one is some saints' lives, which occasionally can be used as a basis for their narrative assumptions about peasant perceptions and social relationships. The second one is law, particularly in the Romano–Germanic West, which gives direct evidence about peasant social practices. This evidence is given the greatest weight because medieval social history came out of legal history. The third types of source are charters and legal documents.
Florin Curta
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638093
- eISBN:
- 9780748670741
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638093.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The book is an attempt to synthesize the results of several studies in archaeology, numismatics, history, and sigillography that have recently advanced our knowledge of early medieval Greece. Instead ...
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The book is an attempt to synthesize the results of several studies in archaeology, numismatics, history, and sigillography that have recently advanced our knowledge of early medieval Greece. Instead of a polar opposition between the Byzantine Empire and “barbarians” (Slavs or Bulgars), the history of early medieval Greece must be understood within a larger Balkan context shaped fundamentally by complex economic and social phenomena. An older tradition has seen the changes taking place in Greece between ca. 500 and ca. 1050 as the result of exclusively political factors, mainly related to the revival of Byzantine military power under the Macedonian dynasty and the desire to convert the Slavs to Christianity. Nevertheless, recent studies in the economic history of early medieval Europe suggest a different view. Moreover, archaeologists interested in long-term changes have long recognized that the explosion of settlement assemblages is not unique to Greece and that similar developments are archaeologically documented for other areas of the Balkans that were not under Byzantine rule at that time. More economically minded accounts of the so-called Middle Byzantine period have revealed the complex relation between trade and agriculture in the economic take-off of the Macedonian period. The book offers for the first time a synthetic view of the economic and social processes at work in early medieval Greece, but pays attention also to political and religious phenomena.Less
The book is an attempt to synthesize the results of several studies in archaeology, numismatics, history, and sigillography that have recently advanced our knowledge of early medieval Greece. Instead of a polar opposition between the Byzantine Empire and “barbarians” (Slavs or Bulgars), the history of early medieval Greece must be understood within a larger Balkan context shaped fundamentally by complex economic and social phenomena. An older tradition has seen the changes taking place in Greece between ca. 500 and ca. 1050 as the result of exclusively political factors, mainly related to the revival of Byzantine military power under the Macedonian dynasty and the desire to convert the Slavs to Christianity. Nevertheless, recent studies in the economic history of early medieval Europe suggest a different view. Moreover, archaeologists interested in long-term changes have long recognized that the explosion of settlement assemblages is not unique to Greece and that similar developments are archaeologically documented for other areas of the Balkans that were not under Byzantine rule at that time. More economically minded accounts of the so-called Middle Byzantine period have revealed the complex relation between trade and agriculture in the economic take-off of the Macedonian period. The book offers for the first time a synthetic view of the economic and social processes at work in early medieval Greece, but pays attention also to political and religious phenomena.
Eva von Contzen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719095962
- eISBN:
- 9781526109675
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719095962.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
The first book-length study of the Scottish Legendary (late 14th c.), the only extant collection of saints’ lives in the vernacular from medieval Scotland, scrutinises the dynamics of hagiographic ...
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The first book-length study of the Scottish Legendary (late 14th c.), the only extant collection of saints’ lives in the vernacular from medieval Scotland, scrutinises the dynamics of hagiographic narration, its implicit assumptions about literariness, and the functions of telling the lives of the saints. The fifty saints’ legends are remarkable for their narrative art: the enjoyment of reading the legends is heightened, while didactic and edifying content is toned down. Focusing on the role of the narrator, the depiction of the saintly characters, their interiority, as well as temporal and spatial parameters, it is demonstrated that the Scottish poet has adapted the traditional material to the needs of an audience versed in reading romance and other secular genres. The implications of the Scottish poet’s narrative strategies are analysed also with respect to the Scottishness of the legendary and its overall place in the hagiographic landscape of late medieval Britain.Less
The first book-length study of the Scottish Legendary (late 14th c.), the only extant collection of saints’ lives in the vernacular from medieval Scotland, scrutinises the dynamics of hagiographic narration, its implicit assumptions about literariness, and the functions of telling the lives of the saints. The fifty saints’ legends are remarkable for their narrative art: the enjoyment of reading the legends is heightened, while didactic and edifying content is toned down. Focusing on the role of the narrator, the depiction of the saintly characters, their interiority, as well as temporal and spatial parameters, it is demonstrated that the Scottish poet has adapted the traditional material to the needs of an audience versed in reading romance and other secular genres. The implications of the Scottish poet’s narrative strategies are analysed also with respect to the Scottishness of the legendary and its overall place in the hagiographic landscape of late medieval Britain.
Averil Cameron
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520223882
- eISBN:
- 9780520925052
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520223882.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter analyzes meaning and form in Eusebius of Caesarea's biographical works Life of Constantine and Life of Antony. It explains that these works were written not more than twenty years apart ...
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This chapter analyzes meaning and form in Eusebius of Caesarea's biographical works Life of Constantine and Life of Antony. It explains that these works were written not more than twenty years apart and the latter was considered by all as the paradigm of a saint's life. It argues that both works are self-conscious in the extreme and their form makes reference to other established genres.Less
This chapter analyzes meaning and form in Eusebius of Caesarea's biographical works Life of Constantine and Life of Antony. It explains that these works were written not more than twenty years apart and the latter was considered by all as the paradigm of a saint's life. It argues that both works are self-conscious in the extreme and their form makes reference to other established genres.
Peggy McCracken
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226458922
- eISBN:
- 9780226459080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226459080.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter explores literary debates about the contractual nature of sovereign relations in a set of literary texts about wolves: saints’ lives in which wolves submit miraculously to human mastery; ...
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This chapter explores literary debates about the contractual nature of sovereign relations in a set of literary texts about wolves: saints’ lives in which wolves submit miraculously to human mastery; Marie de France’s fables, in which wolves contemplate the advantages of domestication; and Marie's Bisclavret, a story about a werewolf. In all these narratives, a wild wolf’s consideration of voluntary domestication structures a representation of consensual subjection to mastery and rule between animals and human masters. Yet in representations of animals as subjects that consider or desire a relationship with humans, medieval literary texts also explore the limits of a social contract that would define human mastery as a response to animal desire.Less
This chapter explores literary debates about the contractual nature of sovereign relations in a set of literary texts about wolves: saints’ lives in which wolves submit miraculously to human mastery; Marie de France’s fables, in which wolves contemplate the advantages of domestication; and Marie's Bisclavret, a story about a werewolf. In all these narratives, a wild wolf’s consideration of voluntary domestication structures a representation of consensual subjection to mastery and rule between animals and human masters. Yet in representations of animals as subjects that consider or desire a relationship with humans, medieval literary texts also explore the limits of a social contract that would define human mastery as a response to animal desire.
Katrina B. Olds
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300185225
- eISBN:
- 9780300186062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300185225.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
This chapter argues that, through his intimate familiarity with late antique and medieval Spanish chronicles, saints’ lives, liturgical texts, and antiquities, Higuera was able to mold the false ...
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This chapter argues that, through his intimate familiarity with late antique and medieval Spanish chronicles, saints’ lives, liturgical texts, and antiquities, Higuera was able to mold the false chronicles in close imitation of ancient and early medieval models to create the illusion of verisimilitude. Higuera’s forgeries were hardly flights of whimsy, but rather carefully constructed texts that reflected his diligent research and scholarly communication with other enthusiasts of history in Spain and Catholic Europe. Higuera was part of a much longer tradition in which history, hagiography, and liturgy intersected, overlapped, bled into one another, and refused to separate themselves out into distinct genres. In this tradition, the highest good could be served by any and all, whose poetic conventions were not separated by rigid considerations of genre. Classical rhetoricians had been aware of this sometimes complex relationship among, and sometimes fluid boundaries between, poetry and history, fables, and facts.Less
This chapter argues that, through his intimate familiarity with late antique and medieval Spanish chronicles, saints’ lives, liturgical texts, and antiquities, Higuera was able to mold the false chronicles in close imitation of ancient and early medieval models to create the illusion of verisimilitude. Higuera’s forgeries were hardly flights of whimsy, but rather carefully constructed texts that reflected his diligent research and scholarly communication with other enthusiasts of history in Spain and Catholic Europe. Higuera was part of a much longer tradition in which history, hagiography, and liturgy intersected, overlapped, bled into one another, and refused to separate themselves out into distinct genres. In this tradition, the highest good could be served by any and all, whose poetic conventions were not separated by rigid considerations of genre. Classical rhetoricians had been aware of this sometimes complex relationship among, and sometimes fluid boundaries between, poetry and history, fables, and facts.
Geoff Baker
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719080241
- eISBN:
- 9781781701799
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719080241.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter analyses William Blundell's entries on devotional writing and religious histories in his commonplace books. It considers how Blundell used his reading to bolster his own religious ...
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This chapter analyses William Blundell's entries on devotional writing and religious histories in his commonplace books. It considers how Blundell used his reading to bolster his own religious beliefs and discusses religious beliefs based on his engagement with the Bible and other devotional works. The analysis of his commonplace books indicates that certain aspects of Catholicism caused him problems, particularly the details of saints' lives. This chapter also describes how Blundell read and rewrote Catholic and Protestant history to add credibility to the former.Less
This chapter analyses William Blundell's entries on devotional writing and religious histories in his commonplace books. It considers how Blundell used his reading to bolster his own religious beliefs and discusses religious beliefs based on his engagement with the Bible and other devotional works. The analysis of his commonplace books indicates that certain aspects of Catholicism caused him problems, particularly the details of saints' lives. This chapter also describes how Blundell read and rewrote Catholic and Protestant history to add credibility to the former.
M. R. Godden
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300091397
- eISBN:
- 9780300129113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300091397.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, Anglo-Saxon / Old English Literature
This chapter examines the richness of the comparative study of sources and influences in its exploration of early medieval conceptions of the mind in Latin and English prose and poetry. It explains ...
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This chapter examines the richness of the comparative study of sources and influences in its exploration of early medieval conceptions of the mind in Latin and English prose and poetry. It explains that there are two different traditions in Anglo-Saxon England when it comes of the conceptions of the mind. These include the group represented by Alcuin, Alfred, and Aelfric and those reflected in the poetic vocabulary. This chapter also provides a comparative analysis of Boethius' De consolatione Philosophiae and a philosophical text in Aelfric's Lives of Saints.Less
This chapter examines the richness of the comparative study of sources and influences in its exploration of early medieval conceptions of the mind in Latin and English prose and poetry. It explains that there are two different traditions in Anglo-Saxon England when it comes of the conceptions of the mind. These include the group represented by Alcuin, Alfred, and Aelfric and those reflected in the poetic vocabulary. This chapter also provides a comparative analysis of Boethius' De consolatione Philosophiae and a philosophical text in Aelfric's Lives of Saints.
