IMC 2009: Sessions
Session 128: Marking the Body: (Re)Defining Stigmata in Terms of Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Late Medieval Tradition
Monday 13 July 2009, 11.15-12.45
| Organiser: | Michelle M. Sauer, Department of English, University of North Dakota |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Paul Chandler, Institutum Carmelitanum, Roma / Melbourne College of Divinity |
| Paper 128-a | Gadding about with the Devil: The Anchoress Christina Carpenter and the Bishop's Expedient Recourse to the Heterodox (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Religious Life, Sexuality |
| Paper 128-b | Penetrating the Body of Christ: The Church and Affective Piety (Language: English) Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Religious Life, Theology |
| Paper 128-c | Looking, Probing, Watching: The Stigmata and Elizabeth of Spalbeek (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Religious Life, Women's Studies |
| Paper 128-d | Writing the Marked Body: The Stigmatic Discourse of Magdalena von Freiburg (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - German, Religious Life, Women's Studies |
| Abstract | The late Middle Ages was a time of increasing suspicion regarding religious phenomenon. In this world, the stigmata and other bodily markings provided signs of bodily identification with the suffering Christ and became convincing pledges of mystical union. These markers provided tangible evidence of true faith and potential sanctity - or did they? This session will examine the varieties of bodily markings - stigmata - and the effect they had upon the lives of those who experienced the phenomenon as visionary and as audience. What did it mean to have a stigmatic in the midst of a community? How does stigmata compare to ascetic devotion? Can the body be redeemed through marking? |