Women of the Gilte Legende: A Selection of Middle English Saints Lives

by Larissa Tracy

Overview

The first modern translation of one of the most influential books to come from the middle ages.

The Gilte Legende was widely read as a model for everyday life, including the education of women through examples set by early Christian martyrs. This book divides the lives of female saints into: the "ryght hooly virgins",who vocally defend their bodies against Roman persecution; "holy mothers", who give up their traditional role to pursue a life of contemplation; the "repentant sinners", who convert and voice their defiance against a society thatdemanded silence in women; and the "holy transvestites", who cast off their gender identity to find absolution and salvation. Their lives reach through the ages to speak to a modern audience, forcing a re-examination of women's roles in the medieval period.

LARISSA TRACY is Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Georgetown Universityand George Mason University.

Series editor JANE CHANCE

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781843842996
Publisher:	Boydell & Brewer, Limited
Publication date:	03/15/2012
Series:	ISSN
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	155
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Language:	English, Middle (1100-1500)

About the Author

Larissa Tracy is Professor of Medieval Literature at Longwood University. She has published extensively on medieval violence and its intersections with literature, law, medicine, and social identity.

Editorial Reviews

[The author] is to be commended for her effort to make these important and interesting legends accessible to a wider audience.

ANGLIA

[The author] is to be commended for her effort to make these important and interesting legends accessible to a wider audience. ANGLIA

From the Publisher