The insomniac poets of medieval China
What to do on those nights where no matter how hard you try, you just can’t fall asleep? For the literati of pre-modern China there was at least one possible answer: write a poem about it.
The Monk Who Knew the Ways of Love
It has been suggested that the art of the troubadour is original primarily in its exercise of choice within a relatively strictly limited field and that, if art results from the tension between freedom and restraint, then the two poles of this dialectic are the exercise of choice of expression and the limitation of the field in terms of subject-matter and linguistic register.
Anti-Clericalism in Medieval Persian Poetry
The dominant attitude of the anti-clerical rhetoric in Persian poetry is permeated by criticism of judges, lawyers, aesthetics, spiritual advisors, and authority figures of that nature. This is one of the reasons that makes this poetry still relevant.
The English Lyric, Medieval to Early Modern
This talk explores the relationship among the medieval and early modern traditions of the lyric in English to argue for the latter’s creative readings of the former.
Poetic Wisdom from the Ninth-Century
Across the medieval world we can find various writings aimed at giving advice and wisdom. Here is some poetic wisdom from the ninth-century Middle East.
Book Review: Occupying Space in Medieval and Early Modern Britain and Ireland
Our review of ‘Occupying Space in Medieval and Early Modern Britain and Ireland’
Kings, Wars, and Duck Eggs: Interpretations of Poetry in Egil’s Saga
Although Egil’s Saga is memorable enough for its bloodshed, feuds, and comically disgusting mead-hall scenes, the one characteristic which most distinctly sets it apart from the other Icelandic sagas is its extensive use of poetry.
The Poetry of Trauma: On the Crécy Dead
By Danièle Cybulskie Time and again, I’ve heard medieval knights referred to as “killing machines”, bred for a lifetime of battle and destruction.…
Cultural Exchange in the Languages and Literatures of Medieval Spain
Professor David Wacks’s fascinating discussion of the Iberian Peninsula and it’s incredible linguistic heritage.
Movie Review: Dangerous Beauty
Late 16th century Venice, where a woman can be a nun, a wife or a courtesan. For Veronica Franco, the free spirited girl scorned by because of her lack of wealth, the choice is an obvious one…
Poems by a Viking
What was a poem by a Viking like? In his new book, Crimsoning the Eagle’s Claw, Ian Crockatt has translated dozens of poems of one of the most famous poets from the Norse world.
Roses are Red, Violets are Beowulf
Let’s take five minutes to look at medieval alliterative poetry, using some of the most famous poems of the period.
The Anglo-Saxon War-Culture and The Lord of the Rings: Legacy and Reappraisal
The literature of war in English claims its origin from the Homeric epics, and the medieval accounts of chivalry and the crusades.
Intersex in the Middle Ages
A brief look at how the medieval world viewed the Intersex individual.
The Morality of Misogyny: The Case of Rustico Filippi, Vituperator of Women
At the outset of his influential study on Rabelais, Mikhail Bakhtin makes an interesting observation. The scholar dedicates several pages to detail how the French author’s critical reception changed over time. Bakhtin illustrates how the attempt to comprehend an author can frequently be stymied by the cultural changes that occur across the centuries.
‘Falseness Reigns in Every Flock’: Literacy and Eschatological Discourse in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381
The literature of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, a miscellany of fourteenth-century poetry and prose penned before, during, and after the insurrection, often stresses the importance of literacy to the nonaristocratic population of England.
Hearing, smelling, savoring, and touching in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Chaucer’s scholar’s have long recognized the poet’s keen sense of observation and have commented upon the poet’s ability to transfer his visual images to his writing.
Late Medieval Knight Reflecting on his Public Life: Hugo de Urriés (c. 1405-c. 1493), Diplomacy and Translating the Classics
This article focuses on Aragonese courtier Hugo de Urriés’s public profile by means of analyzing the critical points derived from examining his personal, political, cultural and historical stands making use of an invaluable primary source, his letter to Fernando the Catholic in the early 1490s.
The influence of conflicting medieval church and social discourses on individual consciousness : dissociation in the visions of Hadewijch of Brabant
This article examines the influence of the conflicting dis- courses in the medieval church and its social context on the subconscious experiences of Hadewijch of Brabant, a 13th century Flemish visionary, mystical author, vernacular theologian and Beguine leader
10 Things to See at Southwark Cathedral
My 10 favourite things about Southwark Cathedral.
Religious Education as the Basis of Medieval Literature
The medieval literature was written with a purpose to teach Christian dogmas to the masses. The prose and poetry of the time meant to show men the ugliness of sin and the beauty of goodness.
Guilt and Creativity in the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
I argue that as Chaucer develops his own expansive, questioning poetics in The House of Fame and The Canterbury Tales, he problematises the principle of allegory on which the legitimacy of literary discourse was primarily based in medieval culture and the final fragments of The Canterbury Tales see Chaucer struggling, increasingly, to reconcile the boldness and independence of his poetic vision with the demands of his faith.
Medieval Misogyny and Gawain’s Outburst against Women in “‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’
The view has been gaining ground of late that the Gawain of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a knight renowned as ‘Pat fyne fader of nurture’ (1. 919) and as ‘so cortays and coynt’ of his ‘hetes’ (1. I525), degenerates at the moment of leave-taking from the Green Knight, his erstwhile host, to the level of a churl capable of abusing the ladies of that knight’s household (11.2411 -28).
Caught in Love’s Grip: Passion and Moral Agency in French Courtly Romance
French royal courts in the late twelfth century were absolutely smitten with love. Troubadaours traveled from place to place reciting stories of knights and the ladies they wooed.
A Kiss Is Just a Kiss: Heterosexuality and Its Consolations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The famous line from that modern romance- “A kiss is just a kiss”- is the message the Gawain-poet gave his listeners six centuries ago.