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IMC 2018: Sessions

Session 712: Devoted to the Body: Devotional Practices and Performances in Feminine Spirituality, I - Textual Witnesses

Tuesday 3 July 2018, 14.15-15.45

Organisers:Godelinde Gertrude Perk, Avdelningen för Humaniora, Mittuniversitets, Sundsvall
Lieke Andrea Smits, Centre for the Arts in Society, Universiteit Leiden
Moderator/Chair:Lieke Andrea Smits, Centre for the Arts in Society, Universiteit Leiden
Paper 712-a'Fair Lord, in your honour I have undertaken this battle': The Influence of St Catherine of Alexandria on Female Movement in the Late Middle Ages
(Language: English)
Jade Godsall, Department of Religion & Theology, University of Bristol / Department of English, University of Exeter
Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Comparative, Religious Life, Theology
Paper 712-bCorpus Christi, or Corpus Mariae?: The Gendered Body as Devotional Ideal
(Language: English)
Joseph Morgan, Department of English, Indiana University, Bloomington
Index terms: Gender Studies, Lay Piety
Paper 712-cThe Carthusian Design of Female Piety in Late Medieval England: Literal Identification with Christ in Carthusian Prayers and Meditations Written for English Women
(Language: English)
Clarck Drieshen, British Library, London
Index terms: Religious Life, Theology
Abstract

Bodily practices played an important role in medieval devotion, some particularly associated with female believers. This session examines the textual witnesses of gender-inflected devotional performances. It thus nuances the association of feminine spirituality with the body and illuminates medieval women's devotional strategies and lived experience. The three papers focus on texts connected to devotional practices that can be seen as imitation of or identification with the passion of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the life of Catherine of Alexandria.