Sin in Medieval and Early Modern Culture : The Tradition of the Seven Deadly Sins

A fresh consideration of the enduring tradition of the Seven Deadly Sins, showing its continuing post-medieval influence. The tradition of the seven deadly sins played a considerable role in western culture, even after the supposed turning-point of the Protestant Reformation, as the essays collected here demonstrate. The first part of the book addresses such topics as the problem of acedia in Carolingian monasticism; the development of medieval thought on arrogance; the blending of tradition and innovation in Aquinas's conceptualization of the sins; the treatment of sin in the pastoral contexts of the early Middle English Vices and Virtues and a fifteenth-century sermon from England; the political uses of the deadly sins in the court sermons of Jean Gerson; and the continuing usefulnessof the tradition in early modern England. In the second part, the role of the tradition in literature and the arts is considered. Essays look at representations of the sins in French music of the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries; in Dante's Purgatorio; in a work by Michel Beheim in pre-Reformation Germany; and in a 1533 play by the German Lutheran writer Hans Sachs. New interpretations are offered of Gower's "Tale of Constance" and Bosch's Tabletop of the Seven Deadly Sins. As a whole, the book significantly enhances our understanding of the multiple uses and meanings of the sins tradition, not only in medieval culture but also in the transition from the medievalto the early modern period. RICHARD G. NEWHAUSER is Professor of English and Medieval Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe; SUSAN J. RIDYARD is Professor of History and Director of the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium,The University of the South, Sewanee. Contributors: Richard G. Newhauser, James B. Williams, Kiril Petkov, Cate Gunn, Eileen C. Sweeney, Holly Johnson, Nancy McLoughlin, Anne Walters Robertson, Peter S. Hawkins, CarolJamison, Henry Luttikhuizen, William C. McDonald, Kathleen Crowther. This Volume Offers A Fresh Consideration Of Role Played By The Enduring Tradition Of The Seven Deadly Sins In Western Culture, Showing Its Continuing Post-mediaeval Influence Even After The Supposed Turning-point Of The Protestant Reformation. It Enhances Our Understanding Of The Multiple Uses And Meanings Of The Sins Tradition. Introduction / Richard G. Newhauser -- Pt I. The Sins In Religious, Intellectual And Pastoral Contexts -- Working For Reform: Acedia, Benedict Of Aniane And The Transformation Of Working Culture In Carolingian Monasticism / James B. Williams -- The Cultural Career Of A 'minor' Vice: Arrogance In The Medieval Treatise On Sin / Kiril Petkov -- Vices And Virtues: A Reassessment Of Manuscript Stowe 34 / Cate Gunn -- Aquinas On The Seven Deadly Sins: Tradition And Innovation / Eileen C. Sweeny -- A Fifteenth-century Sermon Enacts The Seven Deadly Sins / Holly Johnson -- The Deadly Sins And Contemplative Politics: Gerson's Ordering Of The Personal And Political Realms / Nancy Mcloughlin -- 'these Seaven Devils': The Capital Vices On The Way To Modernity / Richard G. Newhauser -- Pt. Ii. The Sins In The Musical, Literary And Visual Arts -- The Seven Deadly Sins In Medieval Music / Anne Walters Robertson -- The Religion Of The Mountain: Handling Sin In Dante's Purgatorio / Peter S. Hawkins -- John Gower's Shaping Of 'the Tale Of Constance' As An Exemplum Contra Envy / Carol Jamison -- Through Boschian Eyes: An Interpretation Of The Prado Tabletop Of The Seven Deadly Sins / Henry Luttikhuizen -- Singing Sin: Michel Beheim's 'little Book Of The Seven Deadly Sins', A German Pre-reformation Religious Text For The Laity / William C. Mcdonald -- Raising Cain: Vice, Virtue And Social Order / Kathleen Crowther. Edited By Richard G. Newhauser And Susan J. Ridyard. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Frontcover Contents List of Figures and Plates List of Contributors Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction I. The Sins In Religious, Intellectual And Pastoral Contexts 1. Working for Reform: Acedia, Benedict of Aniane and the Transformation of Working Culture in Carolingian Monasticism 2. The Cultural Career of a ‘Minor’ Vice: Arrogance in the Medieval Treatise on Sin 3. Vices and Virtues: A Reassessment of Manuscript Stowe 34 4. Aquinas on the Seven Deadly Sins: Tradition and Innovation 5. A Fifteenth-Century Sermon Enacts the Seven Deadly Sins 6. The Deadly Sins and Contemplative Politics: Gerson’s Ordering of the Personal and Political Realms 7. ‘These Seaven Devils’: The Capital Vices on the Way to Modernity II. The Sins In The Musical, Literary And Visual Arts 8. The Seven Deadly Sins in Medieval Music 9. The Religion of the Mountain: Handling Sin in Dante’s Purgatorio 10. John Gower’s Shaping of ‘The Tale of Constance’ as an Exemplum contra Envy 11. Through Boschian Eyes: An Interpretation of the Prado Tabletop of the Seven Deadly Sins 12. Singing Sin: Michel Beheim’s Little Book of the Seven Deadly Sins’, A German Pre-Reformation Religious Text for the Laity 13. Raising Cain: Vice, Virtue and Social Order in the German Reformation Index Backcover