IMC 2008: Sessions
Session 313: Natural Born Gentlemen?: Education and Inborn Qualities in Later Medieval Texts
Monday 7 July 2008, 16.30-18.00
| Sponsor: | Fontys Hogescholen, Tilburg |
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| Organiser: | Geert van Iersel, Bartholomew's Society / Fontys Hogescholen, Tilburg |
| Moderator/Chair: | Ben Parsons, School of English, University of Leicester |
| Paper 313-a | The Humours and Social Categorisation (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Medicine, Mentalities, Social History |
| Paper 313-b | The Educated Nobleman Breaks Free: Sir Degaré and the Northern Octavian (Language: English) Index terms: Education, Language and Literature - Middle English, Mentalities, Social History |
| Paper 313-c | Educating the Burghers of Antwerp: The Virtuous Life in Der Leken Spieghel (The Layman's Mirror) (Language: English) Index terms: Education, Language and Literature - Dutch, Mentalities, Rhetoric |
| Abstract | Is behaviour a reflection of natural, inborn qualities, or the result of education? The ruling classes benefited from the view that behaviour patterns were innate, as romance literature reflects. Attitudes towards the social order were also coloured by humoral theory, which imputed a social dimension to human nature. Towards the end of the Middle Ages the rise of the cities generated a desire among the middle classes to acquire 'noble' virtues. Education and upbringing were increasingly accepted as means of social improvement. This presented a direct challenge to the notion of society as a given, natural structure. |