IMC 2005: Sessions
Session 1213: Breaking the Life-Cycle?: Ageing Virgins, Manly Widows, and Sterile Mothers in Anglo-Saxon England
Wednesday 13 July 2005, 14.15-15.45
| Organiser: | Naomi Beaumont, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Katy Cubitt, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York |
| Paper 1213-a | 'She Creates a Living Creature from a Lifeless Mother': Edith's Sterile Maternity in the Vita Aedwardi Regis (Language: English) Index terms: Genealogy and Prosopography, Sexuality, Social History, Theology |
| Paper 1213-b | Æthelflæd of Damerham: Political Pawn or Professional Widow? (Language: English) Index terms: Gender Studies, Genealogy and Prosopography, Social History, Women's Studies |
| Paper 1213-c | Husbands and Widows: Bequest and the Life-Cycle in Late Anglo-Saxon England (Language: English) Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Daily Life, Gender Studies, Literacy and Orality |
| Abstract | This session uses literary, religious, archaeological and testamentary sources from 700-1070 to examine the female life-cycle in Anglo-Saxon England. Early Anglo-Saxon monastic texts construct a vision of mixed-age communities, mixed-gender communities, a picture not fully supported by archaeological remains. Anglo-Saxon wills show that widowhood allowed some women to use their life-cycle to transcend their gender. Edith's ""Vita Aedwardi"" used maternal models to promote the power of a childless queen, yet displayed great anxiety about non-fertile |