IMC 2007: Sessions

Session 1525: Civitas, Generosity, and the Gift

Sponsor:	Program in Medieval Studies, Brown University
Organiser:	Stephen Marc D'Evelyn, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bristol
Moderator/Chair:	Stephen Marc D'Evelyn, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bristol
Paper 1525-a	The Gift of Illumination: Henry of Ghent on the Divine Influence in Human Cognition (Language: English) Bernd Goehring, Program in Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame, Indiana Index terms: Philosophy, Theology
Paper 1525-b	Generosity and Salvation in the Conte du Graal (Language: English) Ewa Slojka, Department of English, Providence College, Rhode Island Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Theology
Paper 1525-c	Gifts and Community in the Roman Liturgy of the Early Middle Ages (Language: English) John Romano, Department of History, Harvard University Index terms: Daily Life, Liturgy
Abstract	The experience of gift-giving was one of the basic structures by which community was created and identity understood in the Middle Ages. Gift-exchange invites consideration from a variety of disciplines spanning the spectrum of Medieval Studies. Despite work on archaic gift-cultures, on gifts in early modern Europe, and on gift-theory in post-modern literary studies and in theology, there has only been little work on gift-giving in the Middle Ages. This session starts to fill the gap, bringing together topics such as social and liturgical history, the ethics of generosity, and the status of knowledge as 'gift' or a 'given'.