Papers by Carlie Pendleton
The sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire was distinguished from its European counterparts not simply ... more The sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire was distinguished from its European counterparts not simply by its religious diversity but rather for its tolerance in response to such diversity. As opposed to the splintering of Christendom and hardening religious divisions sixteenth-century Europe was experiencing as a result of the Reformation, the Ottomans, as a perpetually expanding, frontier empire, offered a bastion of theological coexistence unlike any other at the time. While non-Muslims were by both religious and economic decree second-class citizens, they experienced unique protections for the practice of their faith while resident in the Empire. For the Ottomans, such religious liberality was pragmatic in ensuring that every citizen, regardless of holy persuasion, had incentive to contribute the political and economic well-being of the Empire.
The current situation and status of the LGBT community in Iraq is difficult to ascertain. On the ... more The current situation and status of the LGBT community in Iraq is difficult to ascertain. On the one hand, the present governing legislation, the Iraqi Penal Code of 1969, does not anywhere in its statutes specifically condemn homosexuality or same-sex relationships. On the other hand, reports of localized discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and death sentences by judges and militia squads operating under Sharia law have been widely reported throughout the country. It is generally believed that the already tenuous position of sexual minorities in Iraq was further exacerbated by both the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. in 2003 and the subsequent issue of an anti-gay fatwa in 2005 by the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. These recent events coupled with the increasingly strong roots of religious fundamentalism in the country all indicate an extremely hostile and dehumanized situation towards the LGBT community in Iraq.
The woodcut illustrations used in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs provided an emotionally evocative experi... more The woodcut illustrations used in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs provided an emotionally evocative experience of martyrdom for the reader. They were used to communicate the new Protestant martyrology to an English laity who by and large was both illiterate and reluctant to take to the new faith. These illustrations ultimately resulted in the establishment of Protestantism as an integral part of English national identity. However, the use of such images to invoke a religious experience, while effective, flirted with the idolatry that the Reformation had so vehemently denounced.
Anne Askew is renowned as a Protestant martyr from Henrician England. She has been exalted in Ref... more Anne Askew is renowned as a Protestant martyr from Henrician England. She has been exalted in Reformation hagiography due to both her stern refusal to recant her beliefs and her fearless death on the pyres of Smithfield. However, this exaltation did not come about as a result of Anne fitting the Protestant mold of womanly obedience and virtue. In reality, while Anne embodied the spirit of the Protestant Reformation, she did so by disobeying holy scripture. This spirit, coupled with the biographical generalities surrounding Anne’s life, made her a perfect vehicle through which both Protestants and Catholics could further their respective religious agendas. By exemplifying certain aspects of Anne’s life as well as her work Examinations in order to foster a Protestant sense of English nationalism, Protestants like John Bale and John Foxe, portrayed her as a model of piety and virtue. In contrast, Catholics such as Robert Parsons used Anne’s scriptural disobedience to condemn her as a flippant blasphemer. However, the real Anne Askew was somewhere in the middle, between the virtuous wife and the heretical whore.
The nature of the anti-semitism found in “The Prioress’s Tale” of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is b... more The nature of the anti-semitism found in “The Prioress’s Tale” of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is both ambiguous and puzzling. A simple Marian miracle, this tale describes the martyrdom of a child after he is murdered by Jews for singing a Christian hymn in praise of the Virgin Mary. Both a tale of affective piety and extreme prejudice, it has often been a reader’s own personal reaction to the story that determines how far the anti-semitism penetrates and if in fact it extends all the way to Chaucer the writer. However, the Prioress’s shallow character, as well as her own ignorance of the religious references in her storytelling, show the story to be a cautionary tale against anti-semitism.
Uploads
Papers by Carlie Pendleton