IMC 2009: Sessions

Session 524: Vision Beyond Validation

Tuesday 14 July 2009, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:	Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bristol
Organiser:	Anke Holdenried, Department of Historical Studies, University of Bristol
Moderator/Chair:	Anke Holdenried, Department of Historical Studies, University of Bristol
Paper 524-a	Imagery and Interpretation in Hildegard of Bingen's Visionary Lyrics (Language: English) Stephen Marc D'Evelyn, Institute of Greece, Rome & the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Latin, Theology
Paper 524-b	The Wrong Kind of Stigmata?: Catherine of Siena's Invisible Wounds (Language: English) Carolyn A. Muessig, Department of Religion & Theology, University of Bristol Index terms: Gender Studies, Sermons and Preaching, Theology
Paper 524-c	Adam of Perseigne and the Medieval Prophetic Tradition (Language: English) Anke Holdenried, Department of Historical Studies, University of Bristol Index terms: Gender Studies, Religious Life, Theology
Abstract	Recent studies of female prophets, mystics, and visionaries have often been especially concerned with the gendered dynamics of religious authority and patriarchal restriction of women's public voice. As a result, the notion of prophecy as a validation device (especially for women) has come to dominate scholarly approaches to medieval prophecy. This session offers a critical perspective on this state of research by exploring some of the diverse ways and contexts in which men and women encountered, discussed and articulated the divine mandate, suggesting that a preoccupation with the gender of prophets is perhaps less a medieval than a modern phenomenon.