Essays In Medieval Culture

Bringing together a collection of this distinguished medievalist's most important and controversial work, heretofore scattered and frequently inaccessible, this book constitutes both an appropriate introduction for students new to medieval studies and a convenient compendium for scholars established in the field. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Medieval Essays is the mature reflection of one of the most gifted cultural historians of the twentieth century.

Essays exploring the great religious and devotional works of the Middle Ages in their manuscript and other contexts.

Beginning in 1976 with the first issue of the journal Studies in Medievalism, all things medieval and the concept of medievalism became a hot topic in culture studies. Medievalism examines how different groups, individuals, or eras use and shape the image of the Middle Ages, differentiating between historical knowledge of the Middle Ages and what we have made the period out to be. The 13 essays in this book explore the medieval invasion of today's media and consider the various ways--from film and print to websites and video games--that the Middle Ages have been packaged for consumption. Essays encompass diverse theoretical perspectives and are grouped loosely around distinct functions of medievalism, including the exposure of recent social concerns; the use of medieval images in modern political contexts; and the medieval's influence on products of today's popular culture. The legitimization of the study of medievalism and the effect of medievalism on the more traditional subject of medieval studies are also discussed. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

This collection presents an innovative series of essays about the medieval culture of Feud and Violence. Featuring both prominent senior and younger scholars from the United States and Europe, the contributions offer various methods and points of view in their analyses. All, however, are indebted in some way to the work of Stephen D. White on legal culture, politics, and violence. White's work has frequently emphasized the importance of careful, closely focused readings of medieval sources as well as the need to take account of practice in relation to indigenous normative statements. His work has thus made historians of medieval political culture keenly aware of the ways in which various rhetorical strategies could be deployed in disputes in order to gain moral or material advantage. Beginning with an essay by the editors introducing the contributions and discussing their relationships to Stephen White's work, to the themes of the volume, to each other, and to medieval and legal studies in general, the remainder of the volume is divided into three thematic sections. The first section contains papers whose linking themes are violence and feud, the second section explores medieval legal culture and feudalism; whilst the final section consists of essays that are models of the type of inquiry pioneered by White.

This is one of a pair of volumes by Paul Kroll (the companion volume deals with medieval Taoism and the poetry of Li Po). Collecting eleven essays by this leading scholar of Chinese poetry, the volume presents a selection of studies devoted to the medieval period, centering especially on the T'ang dynasty. It opens with the author's famous articles on the dancing horses of T'ang, on the emperor Hsüan Tsung's abandonment of his capital and forced execution of his prized consort, and on poems relating to the holy mountain T'ai Shan (with special attention to Li Po). Following these are detailed examinations of landscape and mountain imagery in the poetry of the "High T'ang" period in the mid-8th century, and of an extraordinary attempt made in the mid-9th-century to recall in verse and anecdote the great days of the High T'ang. The second section of the book includes two articles on birds (notably the kingfisher and the egret) in medieval poetry, and four of Kroll's influential studies focusing on the verse-form known as the fu or "rhapsody," especially drawing from the 3rd-century poet Ts'ao Chih and the 7th-century poet Lu Chao-lin.

What do they all mean – the lascivious ape, autophagic dragons, pot-bellied heads, harp-playing asses, arse-kissing priests and somersaulting jongleurs to be found protruding from the edges of medieval buildings and in the margins of illuminated manuscripts? Michael Camille explores that riotous realm of marginal art, so often explained away as mere decoration or zany doodles, where resistance to social constraints flourished. Medieval image-makers focused attention on the underside of society, the excluded and the ejected. Peasants, servants, prostitutes and beggars all found their place, along with knights and clerics, engaged in impudent antics in the margins of prayer-books or, as gargoyles, on the outsides of churches. Camille brings us to an understanding of how marginality functioned in medieval culture and shows us just how scandalous, subversive, and amazing the art of the time could be.

"The essays collected in this volume are by colleagues and students of Donald R. Howard - all noted authorities on Geoffrey Chaucer and late medieval English literature. The essay subjects range from a study of Chaucer's Edwardian period to the writings of Margery of Kempe." "Alfred David begins the section on Chaucer's culture with an exploration of Chaucer's earliest poetry, linking it with the culture of Edward III's reign. Lee Patterson analyzes Chaucer's several ventures into the complaint form, showing the interconnections between and among complaint, lyric, and narrative. Glending Olson treats the Canterbury Tales as a game, with games and gamemanship as normative rather than extraneous, while Sherron E. Knopp examines the relations between Augustinian poetic theory and Chaucer's use of the imagination of the Book of the Duchess. R. W. Hanning assesses the role of "pryvetee," or privacy, in Chaucer's poetics." "In the section devoted to Chaucer and his writings, Paul Strohm studies the ideological language of historical documents that harmonize especially well with Chaucer's short poem Lak of Stedfastnesse. John M. Fyler traces the influence of the House of Fame on Alexander Pope's writings. Florence H. Ridley offers a comprehensive history of criticism of the Friar's Tale. Ralph Hanna III examines affiliations between and among important manuscript groupings of Troilus and Criseyde, while Karla Taylor evaluates the significance of the Merchant as a "reticent" storyteller." "John M. Ganim begins the third section, Medieval Culture and Society, with an evaluation of the Annales school and its importance for the study of medieval culture and literature. Anne Middleton scrutinizes the meaning and significance of Langland's "life" as it is represented in and through Piers Plowman. Thomas Moser analyzes the interpretive context of a short Middle English lyric on "inordinate love" from Copenhagen Thott 110. Sue Ellen Holbrook argues against previous biographical and psychological readings of The Boke of Margery Kempe, while George H. Brown discusses the use and abuse of Scripture by medieval writers. Finally, Steven F. Kruger treats the issue of the bodies of Jews, including bodily injury, in the Prioress's Tale and the Play of the Sacrament."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved