Writings on Love in the English Middle Ages

Writings on Love in the English Middle Ages PDF Author: H. Cooney
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1403983534
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
This is a set of essays from many of the leading scholars in the world of medieval studies, which addresses a wide diversity of texts and genres and their diverse perspectives on love. Attention is given to interaction between English writings and putative continental and international influences, with particular emphasis on the works of Chaucer.

Amis and Amiloun

Amis and Amiloun PDF Author: MacEdward Leach
Publisher: Early English Text Society
ISBN: 9780859919371
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description


Middle English Devotional Compilations

Middle English Devotional Compilations PDF Author: Diana Denissen
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 1786834774
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
The book offers a new perspective on late medieval compiling activity. Additionally, it offers a more nuanced perspective on late medieval religious culture in England. Lastly, it examines three major, but understudied Middle English texts in depth: the Pore Caitif, The Tretyse of Love and A Talkyng of the Love of God.

The Art of Courtly Love

The Art of Courtly Love PDF Author: Andreas (Capellanus.)
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231073059
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
The social system of 'courtly love' soon spread after becoming popularized by the troubadours of southern France in the twelfth century. This book codifies life at Queen Eleanor's court at Poitiers between 1170 and 1174 into "one of those capital works which reflect the thought of a great epoch, which explain the secret of a civilization."

The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages

The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages PDF Author: Ann W. Astell
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501720694
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Included among the sacred books of Judaism and Christianity alike, the Song of Songs does not mention God at all; on the surface it is a lyrical exchange between unnamed lovers who articulate the range of emotions associated with sexual love. Ann W. Astell here examines medieval reader response, both interpretive and imitative, to the Song. Disputing the common view that the literal meaning of Canticles had no value for medieval readers, Astell points to twelfth-century commentaries on the Song, as well as an array of Middle English works, as evidence that the Song's sensuous imagery played an essential part in its tropological appeal. Emphasizing the ways in which a complex fusion of the Song's carnal and spiritual meanings appealed rhetorically to a variety of audiences, Astell first considers interpretive responses to Canticles, contrasting Origen's dialectical exposition with the affective commentaries of the twelfth century—ecclesiastical, Marian, and mystical. According to Astell, these commentaries present Canticles as a marriage song that mirrors a series of analogous marriages, both within the individual and between human and divine persons. Astell describes interpretations of the Song of Songs in terms of the various feminine archetypes that the expositors emphasize—the Virgin, Mother, Hetaira, or Medium. She maintains that the commentat5ors encourage the auditor's identification with the figure of the Bride so as to evoke and direct the feminine, affective powers of the soul. Turning to literature influenced by the Song, she then discusses how the reading process is reinscribed in selected works in Middle English, including Richard Rolle's autobiographical writings, Pearl, religious love lyrics, and cycle dramas. The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages provides an innovative model of reader response that opens the way for a deeper understanding of the literary influence of biblical texts.

Love and Marriage in the Middle Ages

Love and Marriage in the Middle Ages PDF Author: Georges Duby
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226167747
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
The author argues that the structure of sexual relationships took its cue from the family and feudalism - both bastions of masculinity - as he presents his interpretation of women, what they represented and what they were in the Middle Ages

The Book of the Heart

The Book of the Heart PDF Author: Eric Jager
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226391168
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
In today's increasingly electronic world, we say our personality traits are "hard-wired" and we "replay" our memories. But we use a different metaphor when we speak of someone "reading" another's mind or a desire to "turn over a new leaf"—these phrases refer to the "book of the self," an idea that dates from the beginnings of Western culture. Eric Jager traces the history and psychology of the self-as-text concept from antiquity to the modern day. He focuses especially on the Middle Ages, when the metaphor of a "book of the heart" modeled on the manuscript codex attained its most vivid expressions in literature and art. For instance, medieval saints' legends tell of martyrs whose hearts recorded divine inscriptions; lyrics and romances feature lovers whose hearts are inscribed with their passion; paintings depict hearts as books; and medieval scribes even produced manuscript codices shaped like hearts. "The Book of the Heart provides a fresh perspective on the influence of the book as artifact on our language and culture. Reading this book broadens our appreciation of the relationship between things and ideas."—Henry Petroski, author of The Book on the Bookshelf

Queer Love in the Middle Ages

Queer Love in the Middle Ages PDF Author: Anna Klosowska Roberts
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137088109
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Queer Love in the Middle Ages points out queer themes in the works of the French canon, including Perceval , the Romance of the Rose and the Roman d'Eneas . It brings out less known works that prominently feature same-sex themes: Yde and Olive , a romance with a cross-dressed heroine who marries a princess; and many others. The book combines an interest in contemporary French theory (Kristeva, Barthes, psychoanalysis) with a close reading of medieval texts. It discusses important recent publications in pre-modern queer studies in the US. It is the first major contribution to queer studies in medieval French literature.

Lovesickness in the Middle Ages

Lovesickness in the Middle Ages PDF Author: Mary Frances Wack
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 1512809535
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
According to medieval physicians, lovesickness was an illness of mind and body caused by sexual desire and the sight of beauty. The notorious agony of an unhappy lover was treated as an ailment closely related to melancholia and potentially fatal if not treated. In Lovesickness in the Middle Ages, Mary F. Wack uses newly discovered texts and takes a fresh look at primary sources to offer the first comprehensive analysis of the forms and meanings of the lover's malady in medieval culture. She examines its importance in medieval literature and its role in the transformation of courtly love from literary convention to social practice. Drawing extensively from the Viaticum and its commentaries, studied for centuries in medical schools, Wack also addresses wider questions about the cultural construction of illness, the conflict between medicine and Church morality, the relations between lovesickness and gender, and the lover's malady as a form of behavior in late medieval society. The second part of the book contains annotated editions and translations of six important texts on lovesickness—the Viaticum and four commentaries on it. Forty-six black-and-white illustrations provide a striking visual perspective on medieval love and medicine. Lovesickness in the Middle Ages will interest literary scholars and students as well as historians of medicine, sexuality, psychology, and women's studies.

The Problem of Love in the Middle Ages

The Problem of Love in the Middle Ages PDF Author: Pierre Rousselot (s.j.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description