Medievalists.net » Deviance http://www.medievalists.net Where the Middle Ages Begin Sun, 06 Dec 2015 23:06:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.9 The Afterlife of the Dead: Reform in Attitude Towards Medieval Burials, Corpses and Bones http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/07/the-afterlife-of-the-dead-reform-in-attitude-towards-medieval-burials-corpses-and-bones/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/07/the-afterlife-of-the-dead-reform-in-attitude-towards-medieval-burials-corpses-and-bones/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2015 00:11:07 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=59483 The International Medieval Congress is taking place at the University of Leeds, I’m on hand this week to report on the conference. This blog post reports on my first session.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/07/the-afterlife-of-the-dead-reform-in-attitude-towards-medieval-burials-corpses-and-bones/feed/ 0 Unpleasant Affairs That Please Us: Admonition and Rebuke in the Letter Collections of the Archbishops of Canterbury, 11th and 12th Centuries http://www.medievalists.net/2014/03/23/unpleasant-affairs-please-us-admonition-rebuke-letter-collections-archbishops-canterbury-11th-12th-centuries/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/03/23/unpleasant-affairs-please-us-admonition-rebuke-letter-collections-archbishops-canterbury-11th-12th-centuries/#comments Sun, 23 Mar 2014 09:36:52 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=48483 From the Norman Conquest in 1066 up to the famous “murder in the cathedral”2 in 1170, six archbishops of Canterbury ruled over the English church...

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/03/23/unpleasant-affairs-please-us-admonition-rebuke-letter-collections-archbishops-canterbury-11th-12th-centuries/feed/ 0 Queer times: Richard II in the poems and chronicles of late http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/07/queer-times-richard-ii-in-the-poems-and-chronicles-of-late/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/07/queer-times-richard-ii-in-the-poems-and-chronicles-of-late/#comments Tue, 07 Jan 2014 23:14:27 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=46462 The article focuses on the representation of deviant sexual behavior in 14th-century English poetry and other chronicles. The portrayal of King of England Richard II as a rebellious youth, which is interpreted as perverse and lacking manliness, and the propaganda needed to offset this perception are discussed. Historical information is given about the political culture and power of the church. The murder of Edward II after being accused of sodomy by the Bishop of Hereford is mentioned.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/07/queer-times-richard-ii-in-the-poems-and-chronicles-of-late/feed/ 0 Transvestite Knights: Men and Women Cross-dressing in Medieval Literature http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/29/transvestite-knights-men-and-women-cross-dressing-in-medieval-literature/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/29/transvestite-knights-men-and-women-cross-dressing-in-medieval-literature/#comments Sun, 29 Sep 2013 11:41:16 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=43951 In this thesis, I will look at mainly French and German texts from the 12th to the 15th centuries which deal with the subject of cross-dressers in the decidedly masculine domain of the knight. There are many tales of cross-dressing, particularly of women, but the concept of men dressing as women while jousting, and women dressing as knights, brings up several questions about the clothes, what it meant to be male and female, and how cross-dressing could be viewed on the tournament field.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/29/transvestite-knights-men-and-women-cross-dressing-in-medieval-literature/feed/ 0 The diagnosis and context of a facial deformity from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Spofforth, North Yorkshire http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/28/the-diagnosis-and-context-of-a-facial-deformity-from-an-anglo-saxon-cemetery-at-spofforth-north-yorkshire/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/28/the-diagnosis-and-context-of-a-facial-deformity-from-an-anglo-saxon-cemetery-at-spofforth-north-yorkshire/#comments Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:52:39 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=43918 Osteological analysis of the complete skeletal population identified one individual, Skeleton 177, who presented an abnormal and pathological swelling to the left facial bones. The following discussion describes these pathological lesions and presents a differential diagnosis based on visual, radiographic and histological examination.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/28/the-diagnosis-and-context-of-a-facial-deformity-from-an-anglo-saxon-cemetery-at-spofforth-north-yorkshire/feed/ 0 Sexuality in the Natural and Demonic Magic of the Middle Ages http://www.medievalists.net/2013/03/27/sexuality-in-the-natural-and-demonic-magic-of-the-middle-ages-2/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/03/27/sexuality-in-the-natural-and-demonic-magic-of-the-middle-ages-2/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:48:02 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=40133 Throughout the Middle Ages – especially the later Middle Ages – ideas of magic played a large part in the formation of deviant sexual behaviours and it was believed that magic played a main role in sexual malfunctions and abilities.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/03/27/sexuality-in-the-natural-and-demonic-magic-of-the-middle-ages-2/feed/ 0 Monstrosity in Old English and Old Icelandic Literature http://www.medievalists.net/2012/10/31/monstrosity-in-old-english-and-old-icelandic-literature-2/ http://www.medievalists.net/2012/10/31/monstrosity-in-old-english-and-old-icelandic-literature-2/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2012 05:44:12 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=36838 In medieval Europe belief in monsters allowed for corresponding acceptance of the possibility of humans transforming into monsters. In medieval Iceland and Anglo-Saxon England the mixture of Christian and pagan world views and beliefs create a situation where the boundaries are not merely fluid but can be transgressed, in either direction.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2012/10/31/monstrosity-in-old-english-and-old-icelandic-literature-2/feed/ 0 The Dangerous Dead: The Early Medieval deviant burial at Southwell, Nottinghamshire in a wider context http://www.medievalists.net/2012/10/30/the-dangerous-dead-the-early-medieval-deviant-burial-at-southwell-nottinghamshire-in-a-wider-context/ http://www.medievalists.net/2012/10/30/the-dangerous-dead-the-early-medieval-deviant-burial-at-southwell-nottinghamshire-in-a-wider-context/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2012 04:24:04 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=36832 This was the deviant burial, which had been buried (or reburied) intact along with a further leg and lower arm bone...Without speculating wildly on the implications of the iron studs, it is known that treatment of this sort was accorded to bodies which had died unnaturally or when there was some reason to fear the supernatural’.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2012/10/30/the-dangerous-dead-the-early-medieval-deviant-burial-at-southwell-nottinghamshire-in-a-wider-context/feed/ 0 From Jongleur to Minstrel: The Professionalization of Secular Musicians in Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Paris http://www.medievalists.net/2012/09/22/from-jongleur-to-minstrel-the-professionalization-of-secular-musicians-in-thirteenth-and-fourteenth-century-paris/ http://www.medievalists.net/2012/09/22/from-jongleur-to-minstrel-the-professionalization-of-secular-musicians-in-thirteenth-and-fourteenth-century-paris/#comments Sat, 22 Sep 2012 19:09:01 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=35876 This study asks: how did jongleurs professionalize over the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and incorporate themselves into society as legitimate, productive members?

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2012/09/22/from-jongleur-to-minstrel-the-professionalization-of-secular-musicians-in-thirteenth-and-fourteenth-century-paris/feed/ 0 Vilification of Identity and the Exilic Narrative: The Illustrated Pied Piper Story http://www.medievalists.net/2012/07/22/vilification-of-identity-and-the-exilic-narrative-the-illustrated-pied-piper-story/ http://www.medievalists.net/2012/07/22/vilification-of-identity-and-the-exilic-narrative-the-illustrated-pied-piper-story/#comments Sun, 22 Jul 2012 22:42:26 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=34056 This paper situates The Pied Piper story as an exilic narrative, part of a larger repertoire of stories that follow the romantic quest-myth formula, a formula that conveys a totla metaphor for the “journey of life”.

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