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Description of the Book: Women Saints' Lives in Old English Prose (Library of Medieval Women)
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Devout, virtuous and independent, the heroines of Old English saints' lives (one of the most popular literary genres of the middle ages) provided exemplars of personal and public inspiration for medieval Christians. The eight lives translated here are the earliest known vernacular accounts of the biographies of Æthelthryth, Agatha, Agnes, Cecilia, Eugenia, Euphrosyne, Lucy, and Mary of Egypt. They depict women escaping unwanted marriages, communicating with male relatives, acquiring an education, living autonomously as hermits, and achieving positions of leadership; such lives document not only the importance of spiritual faith to early Christian women, but also testify to how these women (and their audience) employed faith as a tool for empowerment. Each life is preceded by a brief description of the saint's cult from its early Christian origins to its presence in Anglo-Saxon culture. The translation is accompanied by an introduction establishing the general background for the genre, the conventions of women saints' lives, and women's religious culture in Anglo-Saxon England; and an interpretive essay exploring the relationships between explicit presentations of the female body and the strength of spiritual authority as exhibited in these texts completes the volume.LESLIE A. DONOVANis Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico.
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Details of the Book: Women Saints' Lives in Old English Prose (Library of Medieval Women)Author: Leslie A. Donovan Number Of Pages: 148 Binding: Paperback ISBN-10: 0415920639 ISBN-13: 9780859915687 Language: English Amazon Sales Rank: 1647080 Publication Date: 2006 Publisher: D.S.Brewer Package Dimensions: 0.39 x 8.43 x 5.29 inches |
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Related KeywordsChristian literature, English (Old) Christian women saints Literature - Classics / Criticism Anglo-Saxon British Isles Christianity - History - Catholic English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh History / Medieval Literary Criticism / Medieval Literary Criticism : English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Medieval Religion : Christianity - History - Catholic Christianity - Literature & the Arts Women's Studies - General Cultural studies Gender studies Gender studies, gender groups Literary essays Literature: History & Criticism Other prose: classical, early & medieval Saints & hagiography Old English Literature Specific Members Of Religious Congregations And Orders Religion Sociology Biography Christian literature, English Early works to 1800 Christian Theology |
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