Gender and Holiness: Men, Women and Saints in Late Medieval Europe (Routledge Studies in Medieval Religion & Culture)

This collection brings together two flourishing areas of medieval scholarship: gender and religion. It examines gender-specific religious practices and contends that the pursuit of holiness can destabilise binary gender itself. Though saints may be classified as masculine or feminine, holiness may also cut across gender divisions and demand a break from normally gendered behaviour. This work of interdisciplinary cultural history includes contributions from historians, art historians and literary critics and will be of interest not only to medievalists, but also to students of religion and gender in any period. Introduction: Gender And Holiness: Performance And Representation In The Later Middle Ages / Samantha J.e. Riches And Sarah Salih -- The Law Of Sin That Is In My Members: The Problem Of Male Embodiment / Jacqueline Murray -- The Role Of Patronage And Audience In The Cults Of Sts Margaret And Marina Of Antioch / Wendy R. Larson -- Virginal Effects: Text And Identity In Ancrene Wisse / Anke Bernau -- Pain, Torture And Death In The Huntington Library Legenda Aurea / Martha Easton -- St George As A Male Virgin Martyr / Samantha J.e. Riches -- Becoming A Virgin King: Richard Ii And Edward The Confessor / Katherine J. Lewis -- Female Piety And Impiety: Selected Images Of Women In Wall Paintings In England After 1300 / Miriam Gill -- Staging Conversion: The Digby Saint Plays And The Book Of Margery Kempe / Sarah Salih -- Gendering Charity In Medieval Hagiography / P.h. Cullum -- Ecce Homo / Robert Mills. Edited By Samantha J.e. Riches And Sarah Salih. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [174]-193) And Index. This collection brings together two areas of medieval scholarship: gender and religion. It examines gender-specific religious practicies and contends that the pursuit of holiness can destabilise a binary conception of gender. Though saints may be classified as masculine or feminine, holiness may also cut across gender divisions and demand a break from normally gendered behaviour This volume examines gender-specific religious practices and contends that the pursuit of holiness can destabilize binary gender itself. Though saints may be classified as masculine or feminine, holiness may also cut across gender divisions and demand a break from normally gendered behaviour The study of the human body in the Middle Ages has received increased attention in recent years.