Medieval Studies Commons^™

The Old English Prose Homily On The Phoenix, Patricia Relf Hanavan

Masters Theses

The Old English prose homily on the phoenix, which is found in two manuscripts, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 198 (eleventh century), and London, British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian D. xiv (twelfth century), is the subject of this thesis. The study addresses the homily's imagery, sources, and context.

Comparison of the homily with two of its closest analogues, the Old English verse Phoenix and its source, the Latin De ave phoenice attributed to Lactantius, reveals that, in spite of similarities, the homily was based upon neither; its source likely was an overtly Christian Latin text unknown to us today. In …

Magical Results Of Eating And Drinking In Medieval Narrative, Deborah A. Oosterhouse

Masters Theses

One of the most famous stories in Norse literature is the tale of Sigurd, who kills the dragon Fafnir. While roasting the heart of the dragon so that his companion, Regin, may eat it, Sigurd ingests some of the blood that bums his thumb and immediately understands the speech of the birds, who advise him to eat the heart himself in order to become wiser. Sigurd is not unique in being magically influenced by a substance that he eats. Foods and beverages that have magical effects on those who ingest them are a widespread occurrence in the literature of many …

Prostitutes And Prostitution In Late Medieval Barcelona, Jana L. Byars

Masters Theses

Prostitution was by the late Middle Ages a well established, legal, and regulated institution in Barcelona and indeed many European cities. After a discussion of modern scholarship in chapter one, I proceed to examine, with original, unedited archival materials, the civic and ecclesiastical position on the prostitute, procurers and procuresses, and the institution of prostitution in Barcelona.

Through laws and ordinances, witness testimony, and expulsion records, I am able to demonstrate that the prostitute was a widely tolerated and common member of society. Despite the existence of legal brothels and the efforts of municipal authorities, illicit brothels flourished and independent …

Women's Autonomy In Late Anglo-Saxon England Based On The Place-Name Evidence, Norman B. Frost

Masters Theses

My thesis discusses two related and highly significant points and then demonstrates the usefulness of a new methodology, in the form of place names. Firstly it elaborates the importance of presenting accurate women's history to both women and the historical profession as a whole and the necessity for making every attempt to explore any possible resource for accomplishing that goal.

Secondly it addresses the importance of language as an historical tool that can represent a very broad base of a past society in revealing the common cultural thoughts, morals, and ethics of the population within a specific area and time …

Making An English Bestiary: An Examination Of The Tradition And A Modern Experience Of The Technical Aspects Of Production, Pamela S. Rups

Masters Theses

My thesis involves the compilation of information on the physical characteristics and production methods of English Bestiaries in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries as well as the actual production of my own Bestiary. Working with microfilm copies of six manuscripts, color slides and illustrations, and color reproductions of the miniatures of a seventh, I will examine and compare briefly the images, paleography and sources for the purpose of analyzing aspects of production.

Along with this written analysis I am producing my own Bestiary using authentic materials and methods as much as possible. I am limiting my own manuscript …

The Commercialization Of The Medieval Ideal: The Spanish Forger And Handbooks Of Illumination, Amy E. Dawson

Masters Theses

This study analyzes the commercialization of popular medievalism that occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. By examining the works of a forger of medieval manuscripts this research identifies a market created for works that expressed a particularly "Romantic" vision of medieval society. Moreover, this study offers a discussion of late nineteenth century handbooks that teach techniques of illumination. These works are examined to gain an understanding of the audience for which "medieval" works were created. Publication information reveals the popularity of these handbooks. The. prefatory material examined here pinpoints the idealization of the "medieval" that made handbooks …

Some Aspects Of The Evolution Of The Medieval Tournament Up To The Reign Of Maximilian I: An Introduction, Kathryn L. Woodruff

Masters Theses

An introductory exploration of the evolution of the medieval tournament up to the reign of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) is the subject of this study. This exploration begins with the eleventh-century origins of the tournament in northern France as a military training exercise and continues with a discussion of the evolution of the tournament, by the sixteenth century, into a sporting event and public spectacle with a number of variations including the melee, behourd, round table, and passage of arms.

Some of the influences of the Church and of chivalric literature upon the tournament and upon the knightly class …

Geoffrey Chaucer's House Of Fame: From Authority To Experience, Victoria Frantseva

Masters Theses

Geoffrey Chaucer's House of Fame is one of the most provocative dream-vision poems written in the fourteenth century. In many ways, it continues to present a serious problem of interpretation to students of medieval poetry. Many critics have tried to arrive at a singular cohesive theory explaining meaning and defining the genre of the House of Fame. However, these attempts have failed and the poem's enigma endures, probably for all time.

The House of Fame seems to elicit many different responses from its readers. While opinions of the poem may vary, the points of argument generally concern the following areas: …

Chaucer's Use Of The Absalom Archetype In The Knight's Tale And In The Miller's Tale, Sharon Hardin

Masters Theses

Although Chaucer did not write The Canterbury Tales until after the death of Edward III, Chaucer's youth was spent in the company (albeit on the fringes) of the war-like king and his war-like sons. Surely, as the young Chaucer performed his duties and perhaps read stories or listened to the gossip spread by servants and courtiers, such as the account of Edward's having ravished a defenseless woman, impressions formed in Chaucer's mind. Perhaps such rumors as that Edward's son Lancaster had designs on his father's throne added to and solidified those impressions into opinion, and a character type was born, …

Anti-Jewish Polemics In Carolingian Gaul: The Campaigns Of Agobard And Amulo Against The Jews Of Lyons, David Harrison Horton

Masters Theses

The Carolingian emperors were relatively tolerant towards the Jewish communities within their realm. They exempted the Jews from many feudal obligations and gave them charters that protected the role of the Jews as merchants within the empire. These charters also protected the Jewish community from undue persecutions of the Church. The privileges guaranteed within these charters drew criticism from many of the leading churchmen at the time.

The anti-Jewish campaign of Agobard, Bishop of Lyons from 814 to 840, has received a fair amount of scholarly attention, whereas the ensuing campaigns of Amulo, Bishop of Lyons from 841 to 852, …

The Commentary On Book Five Of Boethius' "Consolation Of Philosophy" By Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas And Josse Bade, Janet Suzanne Evenson

Masters Theses

A transcription, translation and discussion of Book Five of the Dual Latin Commentary of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy by the scholastic Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas and the humanist Josse Bade is the focus of this study.

The commentary of Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas possesses the scholastic preoccupation with using ancient philosophy to aid understanding of Christian doctrine. The commentary of Josse Bade embodies the humanist focus on the importance of eloquence in written expression.

The findings of this study were that Josse Bade and Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas were products of two different educational philosophies, yet they shared the same goal of wanting to educate university …

The Politics Of Arthurian Legend In The Plantagenet Empire: A Study Of Literary And Historical Sources From The Time Of Henry Ii To Edward I, Laura J. Radiker

Masters Theses

This study looks at both medieval chronicles and romances--the primary sources of Arthurian legend--to seek mutual influences between the politics of the Plantagenet Empire and Arthurian legend. The authors of the works used in this study performed within the sphere of the Plantagenet Empire, during the time period with which this study concerns itself. Secondary sources provide background information, such as the historical, literary, and cultural milieu surrounding the primary works, archaeological and linguistic evidence, and current scholarly debate.

From the evaluation of the primary sources and their historical framework, several aspects of Arthurian legend emerge which have connections with …

An Analysis Of Personal Pronouns In Middle English Literary Texts, Melissa Jill Bennett

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the evolution of personal pronouns from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries, with a particular focus upon the southern literary dialects of that era. The baseline text for this analysis is the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood, although Bright's paradigm of Anglo-Saxon pronouns is also employed. The Owl and the Nightingale (circa 1200), The Fox and the Wolf (circa 1275), Piers Plowman (circa 1375), and Parliament of Fowls (circa 1375) are used to illustrate the changes in the forms of the pronouns over four centuries, Chaucer's Parliament serving to represent the emerging London standard. …

Consanguinitas Et Ius Sanguinis: Kinship Calculation And Medieval Marriage, Sandra Masters

Masters Theses

Consanguinity, or blood-relatedness, was one of the most important criteria which determined the formation of marriage in the medieval era. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive study in English which describes the development of consanguinity prohibitions and which explains fully the types of kinship calculation used as a part of the restrictions which developed. In order to fill this void, my goal in this thesis has been to offer a well-researched, comprehensive study of this topic.

I have examined the studies completed by other researchers and combined any pertinent information from those sources with my own research on medieval attitudes and …

Expectations As Character Development In Chaucer's Clerk's Tale, Kevin Gorham

Masters Theses

The Clerk of Oxenford in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is often maligned for lacking development as a literary character. Frequently, the Clerk has been dismissed as a stereotype or an ideal rather than a multi-dimensional character. The Clerk's character, much like the meaning of his tale, is concealed from the reader and veiled behind expectations.

Chaucer manipulates readers by exploiting expectations associated with fourteenth century clerks. These expectations derive from historical and literary stereotypes which constitute the General Prologue portrait of the Clerk. Because Chaucer's description of the Clerk is populated with stereotypes, the reader expects the Clerk to tell a …

Chaucer's "Nether Ye": A Study Of Chaucer's Use Of Scatology In The Canterbury Tales, Brook Wilson

Masters Theses

Chaucer's use of scatology throughout the Canterbury Tales offers a new frontier for Chaucerian research. To this date, no book-length work dealing exclusively with the scatological elements found in his works exists. Too often, the serious and artistic effects of scatology become lost in the great comedy the device generates. Furthermore, many readers and scholars seem to find themselves somewhat "squaymous" when confronted with the "nether ye" of Chaucer. While Chaucer employs scatology perhaps less frequently than Swift or Rabelais, his mastery of this device remains unquestionable.

Recognizing that the uses for scatology extend far beyond creating humor, Chaucer instead …

King Bela Before The Mongol Invasion (1214-1241), Pongracz Sennyey

Masters Theses

This is a study of the political history of Hungary in the first part of the thirteenth century. Special attention is given to the political role played by King Bela from 1214 until the Mongol invasion of 1241. The focus of the first part of the study is the relationship between King Bela and his father King Andrew II. In the second half of the study, the focus shifts to the policies pursued by King Bela once he became the sole ruler of the kingdom.

The study sheds light on the reasons for the Hungarian defeat by the Mongol armies …

Purity Of Purpose: The Aesthetics Of Bernard Of Clairvaux Based On His Monastic Anthropology, Daniel Marcel La Corte

Masters Theses

Questions concerning Bernard of Clairvaux’s view of art and architecture have been answered primarily from his words on monastic art found in his work the Apologia. Some scholars have taken these statements out of context to their intended audience. Others have placed them firmly within the framework of his monastic vocation. More recently, scholars have analyzed the treatise in a broader context by using the Apologia to explore the role of art in the Middle Ages. None of these scholars question the fundamental motivation for Bernard’s view on art and the role it plays in the hierarchy of the …

The Last World Emperor And The Angelic Pope: Eschatological Figures As Representative Of The Medieval Struggle Of “Sacerdotium" And “Imperium”, Christopher Joseph Beiting

Masters Theses

In adopting the Christian faith, medieval people also obtained a tradition within Christianity, that of esehatology. Because of this tradition, there was a receptiveness among some for prophetic visions of the future, visions of widely varied nature. Two very popular themes running through this visionary tradition involved two eschatological figures, the Last World Emperor and the Angelic Pope, whose advent would right all wrongs and transform medieval society. This thesis will examine elements of medieval political theory as they developed out of contemporary events. It will also trace the growth and development of the figures of the Last World Emperor …

"The Pistill Of Swete Susan": Translation And Commentary, Yvonne Daulton Carmicheal

Masters Theses

The Pistill of Swete Susan is an alliterative poem written in the fourteenth century by an unknown English author. Although the original manuscript has been lost, the poem is known to scholars through five extant manuscripts. The various manuscripts have been examined textually, but the poem itself has not been examined critically. The story is based on an Apocryphal text, the History of Susanna. While borrowing heavily from this text, the author has produced a work which is medieval in context and which provides insight into medieval concepts of justice, evil and love. This paper presents a translation and critical …

Three Women Saints In The Thirteenth Century: Mentalities And Roles, Ulrike Strasser

Masters Theses

This case study analyzes the lives of three thirteenth-century female saints, Lutgard of Aywiferes, Margaret of Ypres, and Christina Mirabilis, and places them against the broader theoretical frame of quantitative studies on the subject sainthood. The focus of the study is the pursuit of holiness as well as the perception of holiness. Both, pursuit and perception, serve as the point of departure for a discussion of the mentalities and the social realities which the women’s sainthood reflects.

The findings from this study indicate that female saints display numerous commonalities which can be traced back to the saints’ gender and its …

A Study Of The Preservation Of The Classical Tradition In The Education, Language, And Literature Of The Byzantine Empire, Germaine Manuel

Masters Theses

The medieval Byzantine world can be perceived as a cultural anomaly in the history of western civilization. During the entire course of its existence, those who endeavored to preserve the light of learning drew inspiration from the classical heritage of Greece and Rome. The education, literature, and language of Byzantium were modeled on what had been bequeathed by the classical world of centuries past.

This paper endeavors to examine the integral role played by the ancient pagan legacy in the curriculum that was followed in Byzantine schools; to illustrate the very potent influence exerted by Homer in the learning and …

“What Thyng It Is That Wommen Moost Desiren”: Image And Self-Realization In The Wife Of Bath's Prologue And Tale, Thomas W. Köhn

Masters Theses

The Wife of Bath is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating of the Canterbury pilgrims. At the same time she is one of those literary figures whose complex character constantly seems to elude the reader's judgement. Alisoun presents herself as a feminist advocating male subjection and female sovereignty in marriage, but her self-assertive behaviour cannot conceal an equally powerful longing for love and acceptance. Some critics therefore praise the psychological depth of the Wife's portrayal while others label her a stock character and join in the derisive laughter they believe her fellow pilgrims to bestow on her.

This thesis explores …

Instruction And Entertainment: Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale, Marco L. Bergandi

Masters Theses

The "Nun's Priest's Tale" is one of the most entertaining stories in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales--it is captivating, witty, and amusing--but it is also one of the most instructive in the entire collection. In fact, the Nun's Priest himself emphasizes the instructional purpose of his tale by telling his listeners "Taketh the moralite, goode men" (NPT 3440), advising them to look for the points he makes in his narration.

Although the Nun's Priest never explicitly states the "moralite" of his tale, many scholars have taken his advice seriously and searched for its instruction on their own. Approaching it from a …

Ralph Iii And The House Of Tosny, Joseph P. Huffman

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to provide a full prosopographical examination of the origins of a great Norman noble family known as the Tosnys, and of its principal figure Ralph III. The Tosny role in the Norman ventures in Italy, Spain, and England is studied, and an analysis of Ralph Ill's English lands, as found in Domesday Book, is also included. This thesis presents a complete study of the life of Ralph III de Tosny; a life virtually void of participation in English affairs after the Conquest. In this he departs from the standard of Norman aristocratic activity in …

Tristan Und Isolde: Gottfried's Paradigm For Emancipation, Elvira Borgstadt

Masters Theses

The romance is seen as a paradigm for emancipation in which Gottfried von Strasshurg deals with -the search for selfactualization and individualism which began to manifest itself in Western medieval society. The paradigm consists of two phases, entailing six consecutive steps of interaction between individual and society: the first poses the problem of alienation and is initiated by (l) the education of the individual which leads to (2) his/her isolation from mainstream society and ends in (3) the individuals attempt to gain full integration; the second phase deals with the consequences of alienation and brings a solution in that (4) …

The Monastic Libraries Of The Diocese Of Winchester During The Late Anglo-Saxon And Norman Periods, Steven F. Vincent

Masters Theses

The objective of this thesis was to describe the libraries of the monastic houses of the diocese of Winchester in the century following the Norman Conquest. An analysis was made of lists of surviving books and of books which could be identified through other primary and secondary sources. A study was also made of the careers of bishops, abbots, priors, and other scholars known to have worked at each of these establishments, in order to determine the nature of the intellectual activity at each monastery. Catalogs of other twelfth century monastic libraries were compared with the works identified in the …

St. Osmund Of Salisbury, Michael A. Benton

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Rapture In The Spirituality Of St. Thomas Aquinas, Diane L. Harwood

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Acceptance And Rejection Of Courtly Love By The Lovers In Chaucer’S Troilus And Criseyde, Michael Jerome Baldwin

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.