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IMC 2007: Sessions

Session 720: The City of God: Creating Devotional Spaces

Tuesday 10 July 2007, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Hilton Shepherd Postgraduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Birmingham
Organiser:Sarah Macmillan, Department of English, University of Birmingham
Moderator/Chair:Duncan Probert, Hilton Shepherd Postgraduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Birmingham
Paper 720-a'Þat es mannes soule, þat es goddes cete': The Cell of Self-Knowledge in Late Medieval Devotion
(Language: English)
Sarah Macmillan, Department of English, University of Birmingham
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety, Religious Life
Paper 720-bAffective Landscapes: Textual Activity in Late Medieval Norfolk
(Language: English)
Emilie Vince, Department of English, University of Birmingham
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety
Paper 720-cAnglo-Norman Bishops in the City: The Original Metrosexuals?
(Language: English)
Charlotte Lewandowski, Department of History, University of Birmingham
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography
Abstract

The city as both a physical and metaphysical construct formed the basis for a surprising variety of devotional materials and practices in medieval England. This panel explores the power of the city in mystical, lay and Episcopal devotion. It will address issues surrounding the abstract architectural symbolism of the mystic ‘cell of self-knowledge’; the employment of contrasting methodologies (‘literary geography’ and the ‘archaeology of practice’) in contextualising lay religious practice in East Anglia; and the negotiation of urban space to establish links between the physical location and practical embodiment of power and the establishment of authority by the Anglo-Norman Episcopacy.