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IMC 2016: Sessions

Session 1739: Contrition and Compunction in the Middle Ages, II

Thursday 7 July 2016, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Medieval & Ancient Research Centre (MARCUS), University of Sheffield
Organisers:Charlotte Steenbrugge, School of English, University of Sheffield
Graham Willliams, School of English, University of Sheffield
Moderator/Chair:Charlotte Steenbrugge, School of English, University of Sheffield
Paper 1739-aMaterialising Contrition in the English Charter Lyrics and Chaucer's Pardoner
(Language: English)
Anne Schuurman, Department of English & Writing Studies, University of Western Ontario
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Religious Life
Paper 1739-bAnglo-Norman and Middle English Vocabulary of Compunction
(Language: English)
Catherine J. Batt, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
Index terms: Language and Literature - Comparative, Language and Literature - Middle English, Language and Literature - French or Occitan
Paper 1739-cSincerity and Love in Medieval England
(Language: English)
Graham Willliams, School of English, University of Sheffield
Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety
Abstract

The study of the history of emotions has proven a productive topic of investigation in recent years (e.g. compassion, passion, anger and shame), but few have looked into contrition or compunction. This is especially significant for the Middle Ages, as this emotion played a key role in monastic and lay piety. Paper A argues that the charter lyrics' textual embodiment of Christ's suffering and material penitence provide an apt context for reading the satire of Chaucer's Pardoner. Paper B compares and contrasts the vocabulary of compunction in Anglo-Norman and Middle English and examines how this spiritual vocabulary features in secular contexts. Paper C investigates performances of sincerity in the context of medieval contrition.