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IMC 2017: Sessions

Session 543: Rewriting the Bible in Medieval England

Tuesday 4 July 2017, 09.00-10.30

Organiser:Cathy Hume, Department of English, University of Bristol
Moderator/Chair:Anke Holdenried, Department of History, University of Bristol
Paper 543-aRoyal Authority in the Biblical Quotations of the Old English 'Pastoral Care'
(Language: English)
Amy Faulkner, St Peter's College, University of Oxford
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Language and Literature - Old English
Paper 543-b'That elfe and vile conjoin': Herod's Reconstruction of the Christ Child through Changing Insults
(Language: English)
Rose A. Sawyer, School of History / School of English, University of Leeds
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Folk Studies, Language and Literature - Middle English, Performance Arts - Drama
Paper 543-c'Patience' and Its Middle English Peers: Marvels and Morality
(Language: English)
Cathy Hume, Department of English, University of Bristol
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Language and Literature - Middle English
Abstract

This session will focus on biblical literature written in medieval England. We will consider its creative achievements, audience, and political and cultural functions. The session bridges the gap between Old and Middle English and dramatic and non-dramatic texts and aims to bring new attention to vernacular biblical literature. Faulkner will argue that Alfred used biblical quotations to further his royal agenda. Hume will suggest that 'Patience' is unusual among late medieval biblical poetry in its focussed exemplarity. Sawyer will consider the insults in two Chester plays based on the Bible and consider their functions.