Medieval History
This Valentine?s Day, flip through cable TV listings and you?ll see a bevy of romances. While those movies may feature modern actors and storylines, many of the common themes and conflicts can be traced back to medieval times.
What is considered ?romantic? in contemporary Western society ? love from afar, willingness to suffer, idealization of the love object ? is partly a legacy of themes in medieval romantic poetry, says Jessica Rosenfeld, PhD, assistant professor of English in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St.Louis and author of the book Ethics and Enjoyment in Late Medieval Poetry: Love after Aristotle (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
It was those medieval writers who first ?defined love and made it the topic for literature,? Rosenfeld says. And movies.
Those medieval writers include Marie de France, Dante, Petrarch and Geoffrey Chaucer. ?Chaucer is best known for the Canterbury Tales, but his Troilus and Criseyde is one of the great medieval romances,? Rosenfeld says.
Much medieval love poetry emphasizes suffering for love that can seem morbid or perverse, Rosenfeld says. ?We still enjoy a story of love overcoming obstacles, but in medieval poetry, it can often seem as though the obstacles and the pain are in fact the goal,? she says. ?One of the things I write about in my book is the way that certain authors found this odd and perverse themselves, and tried to depict the pursuit of love as the pursuit of happiness rather than suffering.?
Click here to read this article from Washington University in St.Louis
- Scholar Discovers 16th-century Love Poem Written By An Englishwoman
A previously unknown poem dating from the mid-1500s has been discovered pasted into a rare edition of works by Geoffrey Chaucer. The erotic-love poem seems to have been by a Roman Catholic woman and sent to a Protestant scholar who was the tutor to Edward...
- More Sex Please, We?re Greek: Exposing The Myth Of Platonic Love
Plato lent his name to Platonic love but a new book reveals that the ancient Greek philosopher never advocated love without sex. University of Manchester science historian Dr Jay Kennedy, who hit the headlines last year after revealing he had cracked...
- First Valentine: Lasting Legacy Of 500-year-old Love
Love it or hate it, even the most hardened anti-Romeo will be hard pressed to avoid Valentine's Day this year. But as an exhibit at the British Library currently on show is testament to, there is a first for everything - even on Valentine's Day....
- Medieval Professor Co-edits Book On The Material Culture Of Daily Living In The Anglo-saxon World
Dr. Maren Clegg-Hyer?s passion for and knowledge of medieval literature is enough to inspire even the most indifferent, clock-watching students. The assistant professor of English has been teaching for about 17 years, the past three of which have been...
- St Valentine
The first thing you need to know about the real St. Valentine is that not much is known about him. Including whether there was one, two or three St. Valentines, or one guy with more than one name, or whether he existed at all. Even the Vatican can't...
Medieval History
Book by WUSTL English professor examines themes of medieval love poetry
What is considered ?romantic? in contemporary Western society ? love from afar, willingness to suffer, idealization of the love object ? is partly a legacy of themes in medieval romantic poetry, says Jessica Rosenfeld, PhD, assistant professor of English in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St.Louis and author of the book Ethics and Enjoyment in Late Medieval Poetry: Love after Aristotle (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
It was those medieval writers who first ?defined love and made it the topic for literature,? Rosenfeld says. And movies.
Those medieval writers include Marie de France, Dante, Petrarch and Geoffrey Chaucer. ?Chaucer is best known for the Canterbury Tales, but his Troilus and Criseyde is one of the great medieval romances,? Rosenfeld says.
Much medieval love poetry emphasizes suffering for love that can seem morbid or perverse, Rosenfeld says. ?We still enjoy a story of love overcoming obstacles, but in medieval poetry, it can often seem as though the obstacles and the pain are in fact the goal,? she says. ?One of the things I write about in my book is the way that certain authors found this odd and perverse themselves, and tried to depict the pursuit of love as the pursuit of happiness rather than suffering.?
Click here to read this article from Washington University in St.Louis
- Scholar Discovers 16th-century Love Poem Written By An Englishwoman
A previously unknown poem dating from the mid-1500s has been discovered pasted into a rare edition of works by Geoffrey Chaucer. The erotic-love poem seems to have been by a Roman Catholic woman and sent to a Protestant scholar who was the tutor to Edward...
- More Sex Please, We?re Greek: Exposing The Myth Of Platonic Love
Plato lent his name to Platonic love but a new book reveals that the ancient Greek philosopher never advocated love without sex. University of Manchester science historian Dr Jay Kennedy, who hit the headlines last year after revealing he had cracked...
- First Valentine: Lasting Legacy Of 500-year-old Love
Love it or hate it, even the most hardened anti-Romeo will be hard pressed to avoid Valentine's Day this year. But as an exhibit at the British Library currently on show is testament to, there is a first for everything - even on Valentine's Day....
- Medieval Professor Co-edits Book On The Material Culture Of Daily Living In The Anglo-saxon World
Dr. Maren Clegg-Hyer?s passion for and knowledge of medieval literature is enough to inspire even the most indifferent, clock-watching students. The assistant professor of English has been teaching for about 17 years, the past three of which have been...
- St Valentine
The first thing you need to know about the real St. Valentine is that not much is known about him. Including whether there was one, two or three St. Valentines, or one guy with more than one name, or whether he existed at all. Even the Vatican can't...