The Once And Future Sex Going Medieval On Women S Roles In Society
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The Once and Future Sex
Author: Eleanor Janega
language: en
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Release Date: 2023-01-17
A “provocative, colloquial and entertaining” (Carolyne Larrington, Times Literary Supplement) exploration of medieval thinking about women’s beauty, sexuality, and behavior. “A timely corrective…Ms. Janega’s witty but merciless dissection of medieval misogyny is a welcome challenge to us to stop recycling the same old prejudices.”—Elizabeth Lowry, Wall Street Journal What makes for the ideal woman? How should she look, love, and be? In this vibrant, high-spirited history, medievalist Eleanor Janega turns to the Middle Ages, the era that bridged the ancient world and modern society, to unfurl its suppositions about women and reveal what’s shifted over time—and what hasn’t. Enshrined medieval thinkers, almost always male, subscribed to a blend of classical Greek and Roman philosophy and Christian theology for their concepts of the sexes. For the height of female attractiveness, they chose the mythical Helen of Troy, whose imagined pear shape, small breasts, and golden hair served as beauty’s epitome. Casting Eve’s shadow over medieval women, they derided them as oversexed sinners, inherently lustful, insatiable, and weak. And, unless a nun, a woman was to be the embodiment of perfect motherhood. In contrast, drawing on accounts of remarkable and subversive medieval women like Eleanor of Aquitaine and Hildegard of Bingen, along with others hidden in documents and court cases, Janega shows us how real women of the era lived. While often mothers, they were industrious farmers, brewers, textile workers, artists, and artisans and paved the way for new ideas about women’s nature, intellect, and ability. In The Once and Future Sex, Janega unravels the restricting expectations on medieval women and the ones on women today. She boldly questions why, if our ideas of women have changed drastically over time, we cannot reimagine them now to create a more equitable future.
Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World
A surprising look at how medieval etiquette can improve our lives today, from the author of the popular How to Live Like a Monk Medieval people are often portrayed as having poor hygiene and table manners—licking their knives or throwing chicken bones on the floor. In the Middle Ages, however, such behavior was not tolerated. Medieval society cherished order in nearly every facet of life, from regular handwashing to daily prayer. There were consequences if you didn’t adhere to the rules of good behavior: you wouldn’t be invited to the lord’s next dinner, you wouldn’t win the battle, and you wouldn’t win the lady. Author Daniele Cybulskie explores the world of medieval etiquette, encompassing table manners and interpersonal relationships as well as running a household and ruling a kingdom. With wit and insight, Cybulskie draws on a wide variety of primary sources, from handbooks for young knights to romantic poems. Though we may no longer need best practices for things like dueling or ordering about our servants, the principles of generosity, kindness, and respect still apply today. After all, it’s a good reminder to “not talk when you have food in your mouth” and “anything you say should be entertaining, polite, and sophisticated.” Illustrated with original drawings by Anna Lobanova as well as eighty medieval artworks, Chivalry and Courtesy is full of good advice for everyone, whether you are a peasant or a knight, a student or a CEO, a king or a queen.
A Companion to Popular Apocalypticism in the High and Late Middle Ages
The many crises of the high and late Middle Ages in Europe saw a resurgence of interest in apocalypticism and millenarianism. Pious Christians who feared the coming judgement day but found the established Church lacking in an adequate response, sought out leadership and direction from thinkers who appealed to their lived experience. In this volume, we examine how this eschatology was interpreted, expressed, and disseminated in popular culture by a variety of lay religious movements and individuals such as the Order of Apostles, Bianchi, Guglielmites, Wycliffites, and Hussites among others. The authors here focus on how this creative response to apocalypticism reflected the changing social and political culture of medieval Europeans and is intended to illuminate the active exchange of popular and elite religious culture in the era. Contributors include: Sally M. Brasher, Steven A. Hackbarth, Eleanor Janega, Stephen Lahey, Richard Landes, Alexandra R.A. Lee, Lucie Mazalová, Jerry B. Pierce, and Sergio Sancho Fibla.