The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Culture

A compact collection of focused introductions to and inquiries into medieval England, representing both history and literature.

Andrew Galloway (Edited by)

9780521856898, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 March 2011

340 pages, 4 b/w illus.
23.5 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.666 kg

'Its essays are accessible and useful to a wide range of students, instructors, and researchers, especially those seeking to usefully broaden their understanding of the period beyond the scope of their own specialty.' Keri Behre, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (SMART)

The cultural life of England over the long period from the Norman Conquest to the Reformation was rich and varied, in ways that scholars are only now beginning to understand in detail. This Companion introduces a wide range of materials that constitute the culture, or cultures, of medieval England, across fields including political and legal history, archaeology, social history, art history, religion and the history of education. Above all it looks at the literature of medieval England in Latin, French and English, plus post-medieval perspectives on the 'Middle Ages'. In a linked series of essays experts in these areas show the complex relationships between them, building up a broad account of rich patterns of life and literature in this period. The essays are supplemented by a chronology and guide to further reading, helping students build on the unique access this volume provides to what can seem a very foreign culture.

Chronology
Introduction: medieval English culture and its companions Andrew Galloway
Part I. Theaters of Culture: Political, Legal, Material: 1. From court to nation Scott Waugh
2. The legal revolution and the discourse of dispute in the twelfth century Paul Hyams
3. Archaeology and post-Conquest England David Hinton
Part II. Cultural Ideals and Cultural Conflicts: 4. Social ideals and social disruption Richard Kaeuper
5. 'Celtic' visions of England David Dumville
6. The idea of sanctity and the uncanonized life of Margery Kempe Rebecca Krug
Part III. Literacies, Languages, and Literatures: 7. Visual texts in post-Conquest England Laura Kendrick
8. Literacy, schooling, universities Ralph Hanna
9. Anglo-Latin literature in the later Middle Ages David Carlson
10. The vernaculars of medieval England, 1170–1350 Elaine Treharne
11. English literary voices, 1350–1500 David Lawton
Part IV. Legacies and Re-creations: 12. Literary reformations of the middle ages Helen Cooper
13. Re-creating the middle ages Clare Simmons
Guide to further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Medieval history [HBLC1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]