tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post757123466716022630..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: How NOT to Make a Human: Lessons from the Medieval ArchivesCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-53369563167017334472014-12-04T19:36:20.178-05:002014-12-04T19:36:20.178-05:00Just a few quick thoughts on not eating (I'm w...<br />Just a few quick thoughts on not eating (I'm writing from memory, so forgive imprecise references):<br /><br />1) The perhaps most widely disseminated for of not eating in medieval texts is the celestial nourishment you find in hagiographies. The most recent example I've read is in Clemence of Barking's Life of St Catherine (translated by Jocelyn Wogan-Browne), but also a ubiquitous feature in the lives of hermits and ascetics. This kind of abstemiousness is perhaps most interesting because it was emulated in the historical Middle Ages, particularly in late medieval Italy where Saint Verdiana is of particular interest. <br /><br />2) Since the tentative title refers to medieval archives, the place of fasting in medieval religious life deserves a primary position, both when it comes to Lent, but also starving as penitence. There should be much good stuff in poenitentials of the time. <br /><br />3) Do I remember correctly about Tristan and Isolde surviving on love alone? Or do I confuse this with another story.<br /><br />4) John Mandeville's islanders whose sole source of nourishment was the scent of apples. <br /><br />Hope these thoughts can be of any use to your project. Best of luck!Steffenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01891266202142841626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-60437103528138049462014-05-16T10:34:35.590-04:002014-05-16T10:34:35.590-04:00Christene,
apologies for the late response! Great...Christene,<br /><br />apologies for the late response! Great comment. There's actually a good article already on eating in the CT by <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=p3xzNDPRtZ4C&lpg=PA131&ots=v_gRK5dCjF&dq=Pilgrims%20to%20table%3A%20Food%20consumption%20in%20Chaucer%E2%80%99s%20Canterbury%20Tales&pg=PA131#v=onepage&q&f=false" rel="nofollow">Elizabeth Biebel</a>, which came out in a medieval eating anthology in 1998. I'm not sure I have all that much to add to it, in terms of my writing, but in terms of my TEACHING, your comment will be very helpful. Thanks!medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-1288820183852617172014-05-03T02:05:11.174-04:002014-05-03T02:05:11.174-04:00I apologize for the rambling-like comment in advan...I apologize for the rambling-like comment in advance, but the idea is marvelous and immediately got me thinking of the connection between food, punishment and reward, with a primary focus on the pilgrims who meet at a tavern and decide to use food as the reward at the end of a pilgrimage that would presumably be concerned with cleansing and therefore abstinence, especially in light of the Parson's semi-diatribe against gluttony to end the tales. Food for thought? Christenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06700814253442017757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-60358412085407857172014-05-01T10:49:38.803-04:002014-05-01T10:49:38.803-04:00This does look very promising. Also: why does tim...This does look very promising. Also: why does time go so quickly? <br /><br />I wonder if you'fre thinking of engaging anything in Old English -- in particular, those oft-trod grounds of the Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, Wonders of the East, Life of Saint Christopher, and the like. Part of what I'm wondering is -- with the focus forward, to modernity and beyond, what would it mean to simultaneously look back? Also I mostly just want to see what you do with them. And I can't wait to read this book.<br /><br />(you may have addressed this in links) (I am presently giving an exam and didn't want to get too far into our own archives)(for fear of never getting back to grading)Mary Kate Hurleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14892991966276345782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-29301360757062145072014-04-25T10:37:53.826-04:002014-04-25T10:37:53.826-04:00Looks very promising indeed, Karl.
On "not e...Looks very promising indeed, Karl.<br /><br />On "not eating," I have been thinking about the swan in Marie de France's Milun. As one of my students pointed out in a digital object curation she did for class, swans were an aristocratic delicacy. They did not necessarily taste as good as other fowl, but because they were prestige birds consuming them at feasts mattered as a public display. They were also bound up in noble identity through markings on their beaks that claimed them. All of this complicates Marie's story a bit, where the swan gets starved for twenty years and is never considered for consumption. Here is the web page my student set up:<br />http://medievalswans.blogspot.com/<br />Also the pun inherent in "cygne" as a messenger-body is irresistible. Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-62382739520344618462014-04-25T10:26:46.669-04:002014-04-25T10:26:46.669-04:00right there with you--& cheering you on!! hright there with you--& cheering you on!! hUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09999591687065079343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-392646062763837522014-04-25T10:25:39.093-04:002014-04-25T10:25:39.093-04:00right there with you--and cheering you on!! hright there with you--and cheering you on!! hUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09999591687065079343noreply@blogger.com