As different in approach and range as they undoubtedly are, these four books all share an interes... more As different in approach and range as they undoubtedly are, these four books all share an interest in medieval representational practices out of which complex ideas and theories concerning bodies — indeed, out of which different bodies — emerge. Katharine Park’s Secrets of Women is a wonderfully rich study of anatomy and dissection in northern Italy as it developed from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century; Carole Rawcliffe’s Leprosy in Medieval England offers a dense and detailed examination of the treatment and theories surrounding leprosy in late medieval England; Nicola McDonald’s wide-ranging collection of essays explores a plethora of medieval obscenities ad related issues; and Patrizia Bettella’s The Ugly Woman examines the role of this reviled figure in Italian poetry from the Middle Ages to the Baroque.
Sanctity as literature in late medieval Britain, 2016
This chapter explores the ways in which John Lydgate articulates a 'saintly poetics' acro... more This chapter explores the ways in which John Lydgate articulates a 'saintly poetics' across his secular and religious writings, with a particular focus on his long verse life of *Saint Albon and Saint Amphibalus* (1439). It argues that doing so allows Lydgate to claim a style that is both invested in the past and radically new.
This article considers the relationship of lists to other literary forms, especially ekphrasis, i... more This article considers the relationship of lists to other literary forms, especially ekphrasis, in late medieval writing. It argues that the list derives its power through its association with a range of diverse—at times antagonistic—discourses. Its association with different intellectual, ethical, and aesthetic values made the list an exceptionally flexible and powerful rhetorical tool.
Sanctity As Literature In Late Medieval Britain, 2015
This collection explores some of the many ways in which sanctity was closely intertwined with the... more This collection explores some of the many ways in which sanctity was closely intertwined with the development of literary strategies across a range of writings in late medieval Britain. Rather than looking for clues in religious practices in order to explain such changes, or reading literature for information about sanctity, these essays consider the ways in which sanctity - as concept and as theme - allowed writers to articulate and to develop further their 'craft' in specific ways. While scholars in recent years have turned once more to questions of literary form and technique, the kinds of writings considered in this collection - writings that were immensely popular in their own time - have not attracted the same amount of attention as more secular forms. The essays in this collection examine a representative choice of texts from the fourteenth century to the early sixteenth, including penitential literature, hagiographical compilations and individual legends, romance, debate and mystical literature. Although England provides the geographical focus of the book, chapters on the Scottish, Irish and Welsh traditions broaden and deepen this perspective. An Afterword draws out the implications of the collection as a whole and maps out areas for future research. The collection as whole offers new insights for scholars interested in form, style, poetics, literary history and aesthetics, by considering sanctity first and foremost as literature.
As different in approach and range as they undoubtedly are, these four books all share an interes... more As different in approach and range as they undoubtedly are, these four books all share an interest in medieval representational practices out of which complex ideas and theories concerning bodies — indeed, out of which different bodies — emerge. Katharine Park’s Secrets of Women is a wonderfully rich study of anatomy and dissection in northern Italy as it developed from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century; Carole Rawcliffe’s Leprosy in Medieval England offers a dense and detailed examination of the treatment and theories surrounding leprosy in late medieval England; Nicola McDonald’s wide-ranging collection of essays explores a plethora of medieval obscenities ad related issues; and Patrizia Bettella’s The Ugly Woman examines the role of this reviled figure in Italian poetry from the Middle Ages to the Baroque.
Sanctity as literature in late medieval Britain, 2016
This chapter explores the ways in which John Lydgate articulates a 'saintly poetics' acro... more This chapter explores the ways in which John Lydgate articulates a 'saintly poetics' across his secular and religious writings, with a particular focus on his long verse life of *Saint Albon and Saint Amphibalus* (1439). It argues that doing so allows Lydgate to claim a style that is both invested in the past and radically new.
This article considers the relationship of lists to other literary forms, especially ekphrasis, i... more This article considers the relationship of lists to other literary forms, especially ekphrasis, in late medieval writing. It argues that the list derives its power through its association with a range of diverse—at times antagonistic—discourses. Its association with different intellectual, ethical, and aesthetic values made the list an exceptionally flexible and powerful rhetorical tool.
Sanctity As Literature In Late Medieval Britain, 2015
This collection explores some of the many ways in which sanctity was closely intertwined with the... more This collection explores some of the many ways in which sanctity was closely intertwined with the development of literary strategies across a range of writings in late medieval Britain. Rather than looking for clues in religious practices in order to explain such changes, or reading literature for information about sanctity, these essays consider the ways in which sanctity - as concept and as theme - allowed writers to articulate and to develop further their 'craft' in specific ways. While scholars in recent years have turned once more to questions of literary form and technique, the kinds of writings considered in this collection - writings that were immensely popular in their own time - have not attracted the same amount of attention as more secular forms. The essays in this collection examine a representative choice of texts from the fourteenth century to the early sixteenth, including penitential literature, hagiographical compilations and individual legends, romance, debate and mystical literature. Although England provides the geographical focus of the book, chapters on the Scottish, Irish and Welsh traditions broaden and deepen this perspective. An Afterword draws out the implications of the collection as a whole and maps out areas for future research. The collection as whole offers new insights for scholars interested in form, style, poetics, literary history and aesthetics, by considering sanctity first and foremost as literature.
Given at: 'The Prehistory of Curiosity' Workshop, IUB, April 7-8.
This discussion paper used th... more Given at: 'The Prehistory of Curiosity' Workshop, IUB, April 7-8.
This discussion paper used the figure of the knot (often described as curious in Middle English texts) to think about archival and conceptual ways of thinking through curiosity in the late Middle Ages.
New Chaucer Society, London July 2016
Session 29: ‘Curiositas’ [paper panel]
Organizer: Patricia ... more New Chaucer Society, London July 2016 Session 29: ‘Curiositas’ [paper panel] Organizer: Patricia Ingham [pingham@indiana.edu]
This paper will explore the role that ‘curious’ works play in the articulation and representation of regal power in a range of late medieval texts. It will argue that the aesthetic categories of ‘magnificence and minificence’ (to use Binski’s terms) are central to such spectacles of power – a power which is in turn defined in part by its ability to commandeer (and finance) skilled labour, or ‘craft’. This is a trope that proliferates and takes on heightened and ambivalent force in writings of the late-fourteenth to mid-fifteenth centuries, at a time in England when economic hardship and ethical opposition to ‘curious’ works were increasing. This paper argues that ‘curious’ works focalise and negotiate in various but specific ways the changing relationships between power, skilled labour, aesthetics and ethics. This is because of the particular meanings that accrue to the term ‘curious’ in Middle English.
Birkbeck: Medieval Emotions / Contemporary Methodologies Workshop (8 July 2016):
The recent turn... more Birkbeck: Medieval Emotions / Contemporary Methodologies Workshop (8 July 2016):
The recent turn to the history of emotions in the arts and humanities has generated a great deal of exciting new scholarship. But what are the methodological and scholarly challenges of working on this material? Does the 'history of emotions' have a methodology? How far does an account of medieval emotions depart from other scholarly modes of investigation? Which theoretical tools do we bring to bear on medieval emotions, and which have we tended to neglect?
Such questions inform this research workshop, to be held at Birkbeck, University of London on 8th July 2016.
This paper suggests a project that maps how late medieval vernacular aesthetic categories might b... more This paper suggests a project that maps how late medieval vernacular aesthetic categories might be approached and thought about, through the example of the 'curious'.
London Biennial Chaucer Conference, 10-11 July 2015.
This paper traced some of the relationships... more London Biennial Chaucer Conference, 10-11 July 2015.
This paper traced some of the relationships between 'craft' and the 'curious' in late medieval English culture. It focused on the figure of the master mason: in literature, in the 15th-century Regius MS (which offers a founding narrative for the craft), in the masons' links to geometry as well as practical skill. It examined the positive and negative connotations that were associated with 'curious' craftsmanship and its ingenious products.
This paper looks at how medieval origin myths are disseminated and fragmented by their inclusion ... more This paper looks at how medieval origin myths are disseminated and fragmented by their inclusion in early modern dictionaries.
A post-theatre question-and-answer session on the importance of (especially female) virginity in ... more A post-theatre question-and-answer session on the importance of (especially female) virginity in different cultures, and of the ethical and practical issues surrounding hymenoplasty (hymen repair surgery). The panel members included Shereen el Feki (author of *Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World*) and plastic surgeon Mr Nick Morris.
This talk thinks about the concept of 'curious craftsmanship' in relation to two, opposing tempor... more This talk thinks about the concept of 'curious craftsmanship' in relation to two, opposing temporal modes that have become associated with them. While 'craft' is often aligned with 'nostalgia', 'curiosity' has been claimed for modernity. Yet late medieval English uses of the word 'curious' reveal a pervasive association of 'the curious' with craftsmanship, complicating and expanding our temporal and conceptual engagements with these terms.
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Papers by Anke Bernau
This discussion paper used the figure of the knot (often described as curious in Middle English texts) to think about archival and conceptual ways of thinking through curiosity in the late Middle Ages.
Session 29: ‘Curiositas’ [paper panel]
Organizer: Patricia Ingham [pingham@indiana.edu]
This paper will explore the role that ‘curious’ works play in the articulation and representation of regal power in a range of late medieval texts. It will argue that the aesthetic categories of ‘magnificence and minificence’ (to use Binski’s terms) are central to such spectacles of power – a power which is in turn defined in part by its ability to commandeer (and finance) skilled labour, or ‘craft’. This is a trope that proliferates and takes on heightened and ambivalent force in writings of the late-fourteenth to mid-fifteenth centuries, at a time in England when economic hardship and ethical opposition to ‘curious’ works were increasing. This paper argues that ‘curious’ works focalise and negotiate in various but specific ways the changing relationships between power, skilled labour, aesthetics and ethics. This is because of the particular meanings that accrue to the term ‘curious’ in Middle English.
The recent turn to the history of emotions in the arts and humanities has generated a great deal of exciting new scholarship. But what are the methodological and scholarly challenges of working on this material? Does the 'history of emotions' have a methodology? How far does an account of medieval emotions depart from other scholarly modes of investigation? Which theoretical tools do we bring to bear on medieval emotions, and which have we tended to neglect?
Such questions inform this research workshop, to be held at Birkbeck, University of London on 8th July 2016.
This paper traced some of the relationships between 'craft' and the 'curious' in late medieval English culture. It focused on the figure of the master mason: in literature, in the 15th-century Regius MS (which offers a founding narrative for the craft), in the masons' links to geometry as well as practical skill. It examined the positive and negative connotations that were associated with 'curious' craftsmanship and its ingenious products.