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New Medieval Literatures 25
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Edited by:
Laura Ashe
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With contributions by:
Amanda J Gerber
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
This volume continues the series' engagement with intellectual and cultural pluralism in the Middle Ages, showing the best new work in the field.
Essays in this volume deal with texts from the ninth to the fifteenth century and include some unexpected comparisons with British Romanticism. Great attention is paid to manuscripts in their contexts and situations of production: thirteenth-century mortuary rolls are examined as sites of fluidly variegated scribal training and practice, revealing a "scriptscape" of social networks spread across the country. Elsewhere, close analysis of manuscripts known to have belonged to Henry Despenser, bishop of Norwich (1370-1406) makes the case for an effective scribal atelier in the city, presided over by the "Despenser Master". Three essays are linked by a consideration of didactic writing: the Old English translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care is analysed both textually and paleographically for what it reveals about grammatical study in England's early Middle Ages, and the moral freighting of that learning; a comparative analysis of multilingual retellings of sheep fables making an important contribution to animal studies; and recent, violent historical events are shown to have been reshaped into a parable for the instruction of wives in the Mesnagier de Paris. Finally, Gower's expansive geographical and genealogical imaginary in the Confessio Amantis reveals the impossibility of controlling the affordances of his multivalent "East"; while the Alliterative Morte Arthur is newly examined for its representation of mountains and mountaineering as sites of active moral allegory and spiritual importance, as well as real-world experiences of beauty and danger.
Essays in this volume deal with texts from the ninth to the fifteenth century and include some unexpected comparisons with British Romanticism. Great attention is paid to manuscripts in their contexts and situations of production: thirteenth-century mortuary rolls are examined as sites of fluidly variegated scribal training and practice, revealing a "scriptscape" of social networks spread across the country. Elsewhere, close analysis of manuscripts known to have belonged to Henry Despenser, bishop of Norwich (1370-1406) makes the case for an effective scribal atelier in the city, presided over by the "Despenser Master". Three essays are linked by a consideration of didactic writing: the Old English translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care is analysed both textually and paleographically for what it reveals about grammatical study in England's early Middle Ages, and the moral freighting of that learning; a comparative analysis of multilingual retellings of sheep fables making an important contribution to animal studies; and recent, violent historical events are shown to have been reshaped into a parable for the instruction of wives in the Mesnagier de Paris. Finally, Gower's expansive geographical and genealogical imaginary in the Confessio Amantis reveals the impossibility of controlling the affordances of his multivalent "East"; while the Alliterative Morte Arthur is newly examined for its representation of mountains and mountaineering as sites of active moral allegory and spiritual importance, as well as real-world experiences of beauty and danger.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Laura Ashe
LAURA ASHE is Professor of English at the University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor at Worcester College, Oxford.
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Contributor: Philip Knox
PHILIP KNOX is University Lecturer in the Faculty of English at the University of Cambridge.
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Contributor: Caroline Batten
CAROLINE BATTEN is Assistant Professor of Medieval English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Contributor: Wendy Scase
WENDY SCASE is Emeritus Geoffrey Shepherd Professor of Medieval English Literature at the University of Birmingham.
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Contributor: Holly James-Maddocks
Holly James-Maddocks is Lecturer in Medieval Literature and Palaeography at the University of York
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Contributor: R F Yeager
R.F. YEAGER is Emeritus Professor of English Literature and Language, University of West Florida.
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v |
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vi |
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ix |
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Megan Renz Perry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
1 |
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Linnet Heald Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
33 |
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Elaine Treharne and Mateusz Fafinski Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
59 |
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Michael Sizer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
90 |
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Holly James-Maddocks and R. F. Yeager Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
121 |
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Amanda J. Gerber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
169 |
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Stephen De Hailes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
200 |
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 18, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9781805436003
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781805436003
Keywords for this book
Medieval Literature; Intellectual Pluralism; Cultural Pluralism; Manuscripts; Thirteenth Century; Henry Despenser; Didactic Writing; Old English; Gregory the Great; Animal Studies; Gower; Alliterative Morte Arthur
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
