IMC 2007: Sessions

Session 601: In War and Peace: The State of Marriage in Medieval English Literatures

Tuesday 10 July 2007, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:	London Medieval Society
Organiser:	Pirkko Koppinen, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London
Moderator/Chair:	Gopa Roy, London Medieval Society
Paper 601-a	Captured or Given?: The Sorry Saga of Hildeburg's Marriage in Beowulf (Language: English) Pirkko Koppinen, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Old English, Law, Social History
Paper 601-b	Marital and Manuscript Accord: Contextualising Marriage in Apollonius of Tyre (Language: English) Melanie Heyworth, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Sydney Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Sexuality, Social History
Paper 601-c	The Failed Marriages in The Legend of Good Women: Where Did It All Go Wrong? (Language: English) Cathy Hume, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Middle English, Social History
Abstract	This session contextualises paradigms of marriages portrayed in Medieval English Literatures. Pirkko Koppinen investigates the potential reasons for Hildeburg's marriage in Beowulf in the light of Anglo-Saxon law and argues that Hildeburg is not as unequivocal a model of a peace-weaver as has been previously assumed. Melanie Heyworth looks at Apollonius of Tyre in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 201 and argues that marital morality in Apollonius is congruent with that of the manuscript as a whole. Cathy Hume concentrates on the socio-historical contexts in The Legend of Good Women and examines how its marriages deviate from medieval norms.