Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.
To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser.
1990
AI
This work investigates the historical role and representation of women in the Middle Ages, particularly within the context of Christianity and the development of literacy. It argues that women historically faced systemic barriers that forced them to resist societal hierarchies to attain equality. By examining figures, narratives, and scholarly discourse, this study outlines how women's exclusion from education and literacy shaped their social roles and how feminist perspectives can illuminate these historical inequalities, ultimately fostering a deeper understanding of the intersections between gender, education, and authority in medieval society.
The feminine has been a recurring topic in the authors of the patristics and has occupied a great place in their exegetical, poetic or historical works. However, the interest of these authors was not only directed to the analysis of anthropological issues related to women, their place in creation and history, but that "feminine" can be identified as an independent attribute associated with certain behaviors and procedures, both human as divine. Christianity evoked from its beginnings the spiritual equality of men and women, thus generating a great attraction in the believers, who quickly became diffusers of the new faith; However, the rhetoric about the feminine does not accompany this enthusiasm, since the authors of the patristics gave speeches that in many cases associated it with weakness and instability, situations very close to sin. The question that Jesus addresses to Mary Magdalene in the tomb, "Woman, why are you crying?", Becomes in our contemporary world a call to revisit and critically review the contributions that the first Christian literature and the Eastern and Western patristic literature have made us legacy in terms of images and readings of the feminine.
It is said that Women are often the hidden half of history, but this does not mean that they did nothing. Likewise, since the early Christianity though women have played an important role in the life and ministry of the church, their role and many contributions is often neglected. Most of the Church historians and the Christian writers have ignored the involvements of women to Christianity in general and to the church in particular in their writings except few passing comments to supplement the history of men. In this paper we are going to deal with a cursory overview of the portrayals of women by the early church Fathers, in the Medieval, Reformation period and in the Ecumenical movement.
Images of women have the power to moralize and set a "good" example or a "bad" example. A tension exists between Mary and Eve: while Eve was Adam's partner in committing the original sin and thus responsible for the Fall of mankind, Mary was conceived of as the new Eve; she was Christ's partner in redemption. 1 Unblemished and pure from her oxymoronic virgin birth of Christ, Mary was an exemplar of virtue and maternity. This miraculous virgin birth set Mary apart from Eve, who symbolized sexuality and sin. Though Mary was the vessel through which Christ assumed human form, I will argue that she is deprived of the same quality; subjectivity and agency are largely denied to her in the way that she is portrayed as an intercessory figure.
SAME, 2020
The twelfth century witnessed the birth of modern western European literary tradition: major narrative works appeared in both French and in German, founding a literary culture independent of the Latin tradition of the church and Roman Antiquity. But what triggered the sudden interest in and new legitimization of written literature in these “vulgar tongues”? Does the explanation lie, as often claimed, in the interest of new female vernacular readers? Powell argues that a different appraisal of the evidence offers a window onto something more momentous and reaching well beyond the literary: not “women readers” but instead a reading act conceived of as female lies behind the polysemic identification of women as the audience of new media in the twelfth century. This woman is at the centre of a re-conception of Christian knowing, a veritable revolution in the mediation of knowledge and truth. By following this figure through detailed readings of key early works, Powell unveils a surprise, a new poetics of the body meant to embrace the capacities of new audiences and viewers of medieval literature and visual art.
An Investigation of the Active versus Contemplative Life of Women in the Medieval Church Affiliated with Rome between the Twelfth and Fifteenth Century, 2016
The theological paradigm of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) posits two distinct roles for women. In the Roman Catholic Church in the High and Late Middle Ages, women were offered two roles that correspond to Luke’s story. Mary, according to Jesus, having chosen the “better” path, is the woman who exemplified discipleship through the consecrated life, while Martha is the medieval housewife. In the medieval church, the role of “Mary,” which was a life of virginal devotion to God, was presented to women as the better path, but women were often forced by family and church into the role of “Martha,” a life of chaste devotion to God through marriage and family life. Augustine’s influential theology ascribed greater value to the contemplative life, while Meister Eckhart gives greater value to the active life in his sermon on Mary and Martha. Which is the better path? Or is this a false choice? While this is a question that is relevant in any age, this thesis will demonstrate how the story of Mary and Martha as presented by both Augustine and Eckhart is a false dichotomy using examples from Eckhart’s time to show that women both in the consecrated life and the married life exemplify aspects of both contemplative and active lives. This paper will give a brief overview of Augustine’s exegesis as well as Meister Eckhart’s contrasting sermons on Luke 10. Next, I will discuss the role of women in marriage and family life and some of the struggles and decisions they went through which may have been a cause for their conversion from a “Martha” life of domesticity to a “Mary” role enabling them to take on the devotion of Jesus, which would eventually lead some women to sainthood. Then, I will discuss women’s role in religious life and how they moved from a “Mary” to a “Martha” role to effect change within the church in spite of great adversity from their male counterparts. Lastly, I will conclude that the paradigm of Mary and Martha in the Middle Ages is relevant to post-modern women who have multiple options and maintain a role of discipleship and contemplation in what is very much a “Martha” world.
Theology & Culture 3, 2021
The present abstract is based on four thematic pivots. The first one is primarily associated with the theological issues that Anthony of Padova (1195-1231) dealt with. We pointed out the main characteristic of his preaching, which was nothing other than the position of mulier (woman) in the teachings of Anthony of Padua. In the second thematic pivot, we studied the stages of spirituality according to his teachings. In the third chapter, we translated and grouped together the excerpts of Sermones that are associated with women. Besides, one of his favourite topics had to do with him admonishing people in order to cultivate virtues that oppose the dangers of passion. Finally, in the fourth thematic chapter we presented teachings as viewed by the medieval tradition. The Middle Ages is a historical period full of conflict and tension. During this period, social transformation gradually “gave birth” to the anarchists of religious life. In Anthony of Padova’ s preaching, the people are embodying the Sequela Christi (following Christ) and striving to live their lives with the gospel morality which was inspired by the Order of Friars Minor movement founded by Francis of Assisi. As a monk with a university education - an oxymoron for the fraternity - he wrote the Sermones to capture the roadmaps of the Christian life that illuminate the historical time period. His education bears the stamp of the Bible and the earlier Latin Patrology Doctrine. This is made clear in the symbolic way that women are included in his work which became either an example to be followed or to be avoided. In some parts of his writings, women are identified with passionate situations and elsewhere praised for their virtues. The relevant teaching of Anthony, in regards to women, is a key conduit for the exercise of his pastoral care. Anthony does not invent a system or a solid pattern. Instead, he adapts to his audience and draws his instructions using images and symbolism that people can comprehend. In conclusion, we could mention that, if there is one woman that stands out in his work, that would be the Virgin Mary. The four sermons which he composed for Her feast, are adorned with a multitude of metaphors and images and are an anthem for her mission, her decency and her virtues.
Women played a vital role in the spread of Christianity in the first and second century CE. This paper will assess their contribution by examining the various functions and responsibilities held by women as described in the New Testament and Canonical Gospels. The assessment will commence with a brief description of the lives of women in the Greco-Roman world. This description of the cultural setting will serve as an introduction to Jesus’ attitude towards and interaction with women, who were among his first followers. Women continued to function in the early church in a variety of roles such as apostles, evangelists, prophets, teachers and house church leaders, using their skills to spread the message and further the impact of the fledgling religion. A close examination of these multifarious roles, drawing on the Canonical Gospels as primary source, will demonstrate the integral part women played in the dissemination of Christianity.
chapter 33 the bride of christ, the "male woman," and the female reader in l ate antiquit y
Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2012
Women and religion: dignity of the women as dignity of the human being: relationship of theology an anthropology from a Central and Eastern European view / ed. Rita Perintfalvi. – Cluj: Verbum, 2011. 69-80., 2011
WOMEN IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY Presiding: Maria Dell’Isola & Mario Resta BARBARA CROSTINI (Newman Institute, Uppsala) Women-with-Child on Show: Painting Motherhood from Dura to Luke MARIANNA CERNO (University of Udine) Dreams and Virtues of the «Women of Clement». Matthidia and Procula in the Light of a Newly Recovered Pseudo-Clementine Fragment TOMMASO INTERI (University of Turin) Womanhood as Exegetical Paradigm in Eusebius ALESSANDRO DE BLASI (University of Padua) (Im)pious Sisterhood. Once More on Greg. Naz. carm. II 1, 41, Contra Maximum
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.