Cultures of piety : medieval English devotional literature in translation / edited by Anne Clark Bartlett and Thomas H. Bestul.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bartlett, Anne Clark, 1960-

Bestul, Thomas H. (Thomas Howard), 1942-

Series:

Cornell paperbacks

Language:

English

English, Middle (1100-1500)

Subjects (All):

Devotional literature, English (Middle)--Modernized versions.

Devotional literature, English (Middle).

Piety--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500--Sources.

Piety.

Christian life--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500--Sources.

Christian life.

History.

Piety--History of doctrines.

England--Religious life and customs--Sources.

England.

Physical Description:

vi, 256 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1999.

Summary:

Devotional texts in late medieval England were notable for their flamboyant piety and their preoccupation with the tortured body of Christ and the grief of the Virgin Mary. Generations of readers internalized and shaped the "cultures of piety" represented by these works. Anne Clark Bartlett and Thomas H. Bestul here gather seven examples of this literature, all written in the period 1350-1450, one in Anglo-Norman, the remainder in Middle English. (The volume includes an appendix containing the original texts of the latter six pieces.) The collection illustrates the polyglottal, conflicting, and often polemical nature of devotional culture in the Middle Ages. It provides a valuable context for and interesting counterpoint to the Canterbury Tales and other classic works of late medieval England. The introduction and the translators' headnotes discuss crucial aspects of the texts' histories and thematics, including the importance of the body in spiritual practices, the development of female patronage and of a wide audience for this literature, and the indivisibility of the political and the religious in medieval times.

Contents:

1 Henry of Lancaster, The Book of Holy Medicines / M. Teresa Tavormina 19

2 The Middle English Pseudo-Augustinian Soliloquies and Its Anti-Wycliffite Commentary / Robert S. Sturges 41

3 The Gast of Gy / Mona L. Logarbo 64

4 The Privity of the Passion / Denise N. Baker 85

5 The Fifteen Oes / Rebecca Krug 107

6 Life of Soul / Paul F. Schaffner 118

7 Symon Wynter, The Life of St. Jerome / Claire Waters 141

Appendix Anthology of Middle English Texts 165

The Pseudo-Augustinian Soliloquies 166

The Gast of Gy 181

The Privity of the Passion 194

The Fifteen Oes 212

Life of Soul 217

Symon Wynter, The Life of St. Jerome 232.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [251]-253).

ISBN:

0801434432

0801484553

OCLC:

39981585