Women Pilgrims in Late Medieval England (Routledge Research in Medieval Studies)

This thought-provoking book explores medieval perceptions of pilgrimage, gender and space. It examines real life evidence for the widespread presence of women pilgrims, as well as secular and literary texts concerning pilgrimage and women pilgrims represented in the visual arts. Women pilgrims were inextricably linked with sexuality and their presence on the pilgrimage trails was viewed as tainting sacred space. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 List of figures......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 The Milky Way: Women pilgrims and visual art......Page 23 Legal documentation and restriction: Disruption and control......Page 56 Gender, pilgrimage and medieval perceptions of space......Page 96 Secular and religious literary depictions of women pilgrims......Page 119 Performing Margery Kempe......Page 141 Contextualizing female, male and child pilgrims......Page 155 Appendices......Page 163 Works cited......Page 181 Index......Page 198 This thought-provoking book explores medieval perceptions of pilgrimage, gender and space.It examines real-life evidence for the widespread presence of women pilgrims taken from secular and literary texts and representations of women pilgrims in the visual arts. Along the way some intriguing connections are made-including the inextricable link between women pilgrims and sexuality, and the sense that this sexuality tainted the sacred space of the pilgrimage.Explores a unique intersection between women's studies, medieval history, religion and culture.