IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 319: Nature and the Gift of Grace: Literature and Liturgy in the Central Middle Ages

Monday 7 July 2008, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:	Institute of Greece, Rome & the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol
Organiser:	Stephen Marc D'Evelyn, Institute of Greece, Rome & the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol
Moderator/Chair:	Stephen Marc D'Evelyn, Institute of Greece, Rome & the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol
Paper 319-a	The Liturgical World of the Conte du Graal (Language: English) Ewa Slojka, Department of English, Providence College, Rhode Island Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Philosophy
Paper 319-b	The Mass of the Drunkards: Liturgy and the Natural Order (Language: English) John Romano, Department of History, Colorado College Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Liturgy
Paper 319-c	Nature and the Gift of Grace in Hildegard of Bingen's Lyrics (Language: English) Stephen Marc D'Evelyn, Institute of Greece, Rome & the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol Index terms: Language and Literature - Comparative, Language and Literature - Latin
Abstract	The relationship of nature and the supernatural is of central importance to the Middle Ages. How do people understand the relationship between themselves, the 'natural world', and the supernatural sphere? Are they distinct or do they overlap? Literary and liturgical evidence helps with answers. This session brings together papers that examine the tension between nature and grace in three different sorts of sources from the central Middle Ages which all share a combination of literary and liturgical qualities. The session thus offers a chance to revalue medieval views of the boundaries between the natural and the supernatural.