The Quest for the Christ Child in the Later Middle Ages

The Quest for the Christ Child in the Later Middle Ages
Author: Mary Dzon
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2017-01-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0812293703

Beginning in the twelfth century, clergy and laity alike started wondering with intensity about the historical and developmental details of Jesus' early life. Was the Christ Child like other children, whose characteristics and capabilities depended on their age? Was he sweet and tender, or formidable and powerful? Not finding sufficient information in the Gospels, which are almost completely silent about Jesus' childhood, medieval Christians turned to centuries-old apocryphal texts for answers. In The Quest for the Christ Child in the Later Middle Ages, Mary Dzon demonstrates how these apocryphal legends fostered a vibrant and creative medieval piety. Popular tales about the Christ Child entertained the laity and at the same time were reviled by some members of the intellectual elite of the church. In either case, such legends, so persistent, left their mark on theological, devotional, and literary texts. The Cistercian abbot Aelred of Rievaulx urged his monastic readers to imitate the Christ Child's development through spiritual growth; Francis of Assisi encouraged his followers to emulate the Christ Child's poverty and rusticity; Thomas Aquinas, for his part, believed that apocryphal stories about the Christ Child would encourage youths to be presumptuous, while Birgitta of Sweden provided pious alternatives in her many Marian revelations. Through close readings of such writings, Dzon explores the continued transmission and appeal of apocryphal legends throughout the Middle Ages and demonstrates the significant impact that the Christ Child had in shaping the medieval religious imagination.

The Quest for the Christ Child in the Later Middle Ages

The Quest for the Christ Child in the Later Middle Ages
Author: Mary Dzon
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2017-03-09
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0812248848

Beginning in the twelfth century, clergy and laity alike started wondering with intensity about the historical and developmental details of Jesus' early life. Was the Christ Child like other children, whose characteristics and capabilities depended on their age? Was he sweet and tender, or formidable and powerful? Not finding sufficient information in the Gospels, which are almost completely silent about Jesus' childhood, medieval Christians turned to centuries-old apocryphal texts for answers. In The Quest for the Christ Child in the Later Middle Ages, Mary Dzon demonstrates how these apocryphal legends fostered a vibrant and creative medieval piety. Popular tales about the Christ Child entertained the laity and at the same time were reviled by some members of the intellectual elite of the church. In either case, such legends, so persistent, left their mark on theological, devotional, and literary texts. The Cistercian abbot Aelred of Rievaulx urged his monastic readers to imitate the Christ Child's development through spiritual growth; Francis of Assisi encouraged his followers to emulate the Christ Child's poverty and rusticity; Thomas Aquinas, for his part, believed that apocryphal stories about the Christ Child would encourage youths to be presumptuous, while Birgitta of Sweden provided pious alternatives in her many Marian revelations. Through close readings of such writings, Dzon explores the continued transmission and appeal of apocryphal legends throughout the Middle Ages and demonstrates the significant impact that the Christ Child had in shaping the medieval religious imagination.

Marian Devotion in the Late Middle Ages

Marian Devotion in the Late Middle Ages
Author: Andrea-Bianka Znorovszky
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2022-04-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000579492

By the late Middle Ages, manifestations of Marian devotion had become multifaceted and covered all aspects of religious, private and personal life. Mary becomes a universal presence that accompanies the faithful on pilgrimage, in dreams, as holy visions, and as pictorial representations in church space and domestic interiors. The first part of the volume traces the development of Marian iconography in sculpture, panel paintings, and objects, such as seals, with particular emphasis on Italy, Slovenia and the Hungarian Kingdom. The second section traces the use of Marian devotion in relation to space, be that a country or territory, a monastery or church or personal space, and explores the use of space in shaping new liturgical practices, new Marian feasts and performances, and the bodily performance of ritual objects.

Female Devotion and Textile Imagery in Medieval English Literature

Female Devotion and Textile Imagery in Medieval English Literature
Author: Anna McKay
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2024-03-05
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1843847132

Uncovers the female voices, lived experiences, and spiritual insights encoded by the imagery of textiles in the Middle Ages.For millennia, women have spoken and read through cloth. The literature and art of the Middle Ages are replete with images of women working cloth, wielding spindles, distaffs, and needles, or sitting at their looms. Yet they have been little explored. Drawing upon the burgeoning field of medieval textile studies, as well as contemporary theories of gender, materiality, and eco-criticism, this study illustrates how textiles provide a hermeneutical alternative to the patriarchally-dominated written word. It puts forward the argument that women's devotion during this period was a "fabricated" phenomenon, a mode of spirituality and religious exegesis expressed, devised, and practised through cloth. Centred on four icons of female devotion (Eve, Mary, St Veronica, and - of course - Christ), the book explores a broad range of narratives from across the rich tapestry of medieval English literature, from the fields of Piers Plowman to the late medieval Morte D'arthur; the devotions of Margery Kempe to the visionary experiences of Julian of Norwich; Gervase of Tilbury's fabulous Otia Imperialia to the anchoritic guidance literature of the Middle Ages; and the innumerable (and oft-forgotten) lives of Christ, prayers, legends, and miracle tales in between.ture, from the fields of Piers Plowman to the late medieval Morte D'arthur; the devotions of Margery Kempe to the visionary experiences of Julian of Norwich; Gervase of Tilbury's fabulous Otia Imperialia to the anchoritic guidance literature of the Middle Ages; and the innumerable (and oft-forgotten) lives of Christ, prayers, legends, and miracle tales in between.ture, from the fields of Piers Plowman to the late medieval Morte D'arthur; the devotions of Margery Kempe to the visionary experiences of Julian of Norwich; Gervase of Tilbury's fabulous Otia Imperialia to the anchoritic guidance literature of the Middle Ages; and the innumerable (and oft-forgotten) lives of Christ, prayers, legends, and miracle tales in between.ture, from the fields of Piers Plowman to the late medieval Morte D'arthur; the devotions of Margery Kempe to the visionary experiences of Julian of Norwich; Gervase of Tilbury's fabulous Otia Imperialia to the anchoritic guidance literature of the Middle Ages; and the innumerable (and oft-forgotten) lives of Christ, prayers, legends, and miracle tales in between.

The Image of the Wanton Christ-Child in the Apocryphal Infancy Legends of Late Medieval England [microform]

The Image of the Wanton Christ-Child in the Apocryphal Infancy Legends of Late Medieval England [microform]
Author: Mary Christine Dzon
Publisher: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada
Total Pages: 718
Release: 2004
Genre:
ISBN: 9780612918603

Medievalists tend to assume that devotion to the Christ-Child in the later Middle Ages was part of a movement of affective piety that encouraged feelings of tenderness and compassion for Christ in his suffering humanity. My thesis questions the sufficiency of this generalization to account for medieval religiosity by examining apocryphal infancy gospels within the context of other religious literature in which the Christ-Child appears. Modern readers are surprised by the Middle English childhood of Jesus poems' description of Jesus as a "wanton" boy. Yet this adjective is appropriate since the boy Jesus of these legends loves to play with other children, behaves mischievously and resists the efforts of his parents and teachers to control him. The late medieval focus on the humanity and corporeality of Christ and the more positive valuation of children that emerged by the later Middle Ages help account for the apparent acceptability of the portrayal of Jesus as a "wanton" boy. Contrary to the thesis of Philippe Aries that medieval people lacked a conception of childhood as a distinct phase of life, a variety of medieval sources indicate that people were well aware of behavior peculiar to children. Medieval intellectuals had theories explaining this behavior, such as that children's love of play was derived from their natural need to exercise their growing bodies and also from their desire to avoid the burdensome task of learning. Although medieval people would not have been willing to explain the Christ-Child's behavior according to the Augustinian theory of original sin, they might have been willing to employ a physiological explanation. It is likely, too, that medieval Christians found the legends' image of a heroic, vigorous Christ-Child appealing because other devotional works of literature and art emphasized Christ's passivity as a helpless babe and suffering man. My thesis demonstrates that Christians in the later Middle Ages did not simply respond sentimentally to the Christ-Child. They imagined him as a powerful and all-knowing God and as a "wanton" child beyond the control of mere mortals.

Medieval Life Cycles

Medieval Life Cycles
Author: Isabelle Cochelin
Publisher: Brepols Publishers
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN:

The essays in this collection present new research into a variety of questions on birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and old age, ordered in a more or less chronological manner according to the lifecycle. The volume exposes attitudes and representations of the lifecycle from the Anglo-Saxon period to the end of the Middle Ages as being full of inconsistencies as well as definitive categories, and of variation and stasis. This attests to the fact that medieval conceptions and representations of the stages of life and their interrelationships are much more nuanced and less idealized than is usually credited. Medieval conceptual, mental, artistic, cultural, and sociological processes are scrutinized using various approaches and methods that cross disciplinary boundaries. What is emphasized across the volume is that there were varying, context-dependent rhythms of continuity and change in every stage of life in the medieval period. The volume's selection of authors is international in scope and represents some of the leading current scholarship in the field.

Cimabue and the Franciscans

Cimabue and the Franciscans
Author: Holly Flora
Publisher: Harvey Miller Publishers
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2018
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Cimabue and the Franciscans sheds new light on the legendary artist Cimabue, revealing his sophisticated engagement with complicated intellectual and theological ideas about materials, memory, beauty, and experience. This book offers a fresh look at the broader question of artistic change in the late thirteenth century by examining the intersection of two histories: that of the artist Cimabue (ca. 1240-1302), and that of the Franciscan Order. While focused on the work of a single artist, this study sheds new light on the religious motives and artistic means that fueled the period's visual and spiritual transformations. Flora's study reveals that Cimabue was not just a crucial figure in processes of stylistic change. He and his Franciscan patrons engaged with complicated intellectual and theological ideas about materials, memory, beauty, and experience, creating innovative works of art that celebrated the Order and enabled new modes of Christian devotion. Cimabue's contributions to the history of art thus can finally be recognized for their wide-ranging scope and impact within the rapidly-evolving religious culture of the late thirteenth century.

Illuminating Jesus in the Middle Ages

Illuminating Jesus in the Middle Ages
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2019-09-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004409424

In Illuminating Jesus in the Middle Ages, editor Jane Beal and other contributing scholars analyse the reception history of Jesus in medieval cultures (6th–15th c.), considering a wide variety of Christological images and ideas and their influence.

Jesus through Medieval Eyes

Jesus through Medieval Eyes
Author: Grace Hamman
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2023-10-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310145848

C.S. Lewis noted that the church has a problem: Whenever Christians are brainstorming together about who Jesus is and who we are, we go out and read mostly people who agree with us, or who live in our same time and place. It's hard to separate the cultural wheat from the chaff. But what happens when we do read people's answers to Jesus's question from the past lives and places of the church--people who may be wholly unlike us? Who is Jesus? What is he like? And who am I, encountering Jesus? The answers will surprise you. Jesus through Medieval Eyes, by Grace Hamman, looks to the Christians of the Middle Ages, to a time and culture dissimilar to our own, for their answers to these questions. Medieval Europeans were also suffering through pandemics, dealing with political and ecclesial corruption and instability, and reckoning with gender, money, and power. Yet their concerns and imaginations are unlike ours. Their ideas, narratives, and art about Jesus open up paradoxically fresh and ancient ways to approach and adore Christ--and reveal where our own cultural ideals about the Messiah fall short. In thoughtful and accessible chapters, medievalist scholar Grace Hamman explores and meditates upon medieval representations of Jesus in theology and literature. These representations of Jesus span from the familiar, like Jesus as the Judge at the End of Days, or Jesus as the Lover of the Song of Songs, to the more unusual, like Jesus as Our Mother. Through the words of medieval people like Julian of Norwich, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Margery Kempe, and St. Thomas Aquinas, we meet these faces of Jesus and find renewed ways to love the Savior, in the words of St. Augustine, that "beauty so ancient and so new."

Viator

Viator
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2011
Genre: Civilization, Medieval
ISBN: