Intersections Of Gender, Religion And Ethnicity In The Middle Ages (genders And Sexualities In History)

This collection of essays focuses attention on how medieval gender intersects with other categories of difference, particularly religion and ethnicity. It treats the period c.800-1500, with a particular focus on the era of the Gregorian reform movement, the First Crusade, and its linked attacks on Jews at home. This volume advances the study of medieval gender, which in recent years has started to pay more attention to how gender intersects with other categories of difference, particularly sexuality but also religion and ethnicity, which are closely connected. It considers these intersections through a number of case studies from the years c. 800--1500, with a particular focus on c.1050--1150. This was a time of much debate about the renewed emphasis on clerical chastity and its implications for the relationship between gender, sexuality, and authority. It was also the era of the First Crusade and its linked attacks on Jews at home. Each chapter in the volume suggests new ways of looking at key topics and debates, including the Herrenfrage, Orientalism, and postcolonial theory Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction: Gender, Power, and Difference....Pages 1-11 ‘In what way can those who have left the world be distinguished?’: Masculinity and the Difference between Carolingian Men....Pages 12-33 Ruling Masculinities: From Adam to Apollonius of Tyre in Corpus 201b....Pages 34-61 The Tears of Bishop Gundulf: Gender, Religion, and Emotion in the Late Eleventh Century....Pages 62-84 Medieval Jewish/Christian Debate and the Question of Gender: Gilbert Crispin’s Disputatio Iudei et Christiani....Pages 85-103 Gender, Jewish Creditors, and Christian Debtors in Thirteenth-Century Exeter....Pages 104-124 Gendering the First Crusade in William of Malmesbury’s Gesta Regum Anglorum....Pages 125-139 Prince Bohemond, Princess Melaz, and the Gendering of Religious Difference in the Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis....Pages 140-157 Chaucer’s Viragos: A Postcolonial Engagement? A Case Study of the Man of Law’s Tale, the Monk’s Tale, and the Knight’s Tale....Pages 158-182 Warriors, Amazons, and Isles of Women: Medieval Travel Writing and Constructions of Asian Femininities....Pages 183-207 Back Matter....Pages 208-220 Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Tables 8 Acknowledgements 9 List of Contributors 10 Introduction: Gender, Power, and Difference 12 1 ‘In what way can those who have left the world be distinguished?’: Masculinity and the Difference between Carolingian Men 23 2 Ruling Masculinities: From Adam to Apollonius of Tyre in Corpus 201b 45 3 The Tears of Bishop Gundulf: Gender, Religion, and Emotion in the Late Eleventh Century 73 4 Medieval Jewish/Christian Debate and the Question of Gender: Gilbert Crispin’s Disputatio Iudei et Christiani 96 5 Gender, Jewish Creditors, and Christian Debtors in Thirteenth-Century Exeter 115 6 Gendering the First Crusade in William of Malmesbury’s Gesta Regum Anglorum 136 7 Prince Bohemond, Princess Melaz, and the Gendering of Religious Difference in the Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis 151 8 Chaucer’s Viragos: A Postcolonial Engagement? A Case Study of the Man of Law’s Tale, the Monk’s Tale, and the Knight’s Tale 169 9 Warriors, Amazons, and Isles of Women: Medieval Travel Writing and Constructions of Asian Femininities 194 Index 219 "This volume advances the study of medieval gender, which in recent years has started to pay more attention to how gender intersects with other categories of difference, particularly sexuality but also religion and ethnicity, which are closely connected. It considers these intersections through a number of case studies from the years c. 800-1500, with a particular focus on c.1050-1150. This was a time of much debate about the renewed emphasis on clerical chastity and its implications for the relationship between gender, sexuality, and authority. It was also the era of the First Crusade and its linked attacks on Jews at home. Each chapter in the volume suggests new ways of looking at key topics and debates, including the Herrenfrage, Orientalism, and postcolonial theory."--Back cover