Woman Defamed and Woman Defended: An Anthology of Medieval Texts
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"It is impossible / That any clerk wol speke good of wyves." Behind the words of Chaucer's Wife of Bath lies a vast corpus of medieval misogynistic writings. These texts, which range from those of the Church Fathers to a rich array of vernacular literature, have had a profound effect on the status of women in the West. Despite the recent surge of investigations into women's situation, however, no one book has sought to collect the key voices of medieval antifeminism, let alone to present the voices sometimes raised, even at that epoch, in defence of women. This new volume meets the urgent need for a single and substantial sourcebook of these materials in modern translation, including an introduction, notes, and commentary. The accessibility of the better-known texts here (from Jerome to Walter Map; from Héloise and Abelard to Christine de Pizan and Chaucer) will be welcomed by those engaged in medieval and women's studies; the lesser-known writings concerning, for instance, the sexual "double standard", and women and the priesthood, will provide unexpected discoveries for specialists and beginners alike. The book also features a surprising range of early texts championing women—including material never previously available in translation.
List of PlatesAbbreviationsIntroduction1IThe Roots of Antifeminist Tradition17(i)Ancient Satire1717From The Art of Love and Amores1825From Satire VI25(ii)Scripture31(iii)Physiology and Etymology38From Generation of Animals39From On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body41From Etymologies43(iv)'Matter' and 'Form' in Later Writings46From Monologium46From the Summa theologiae47From The History of the Destruction of Troy482The Church Fathers50From The Appearance of Women50From Homily IX on St Paul's Epistle to Timothy5859From On Widows60From Paradise61From the Commentary on Luke61From Against Jovinian63From Letter 22, to Eustochium74From Letter 77, to Oceanus7677From Confessions78From The Literal Meaning of Genesis79From City of God813The Legacy of the Church Fathers83From the Decretum8387From The Story of His Misfortunes88From Letter 3: Heloise to Abelard89From The Story of His Misfortunes9191From the Summa theologiae92From Tristan94Rule for Anchoresses95From Part II95From Part IV974The Satirical Tradition in Medieval Latin99The Life of Secundus99The Femme Fatale100The Letter of Valerius to Ruffinus, against Marriage103From On Love114Against Marrying1255Antifeminist Tales130The Book of the Wiles of Women130The Widow135From Sermon 66 in Sermons for All1446Vernacular Adaptations in the Later Middle Ages148From The Romance of the Rose148From The Corbaccio166From The Lamentations of Matheolus1777The Wife of Bath198The Wife of Bath's Prologue1988Responses to Antifeminism223The Thrush and the Nightingale224The Good Woman228From Letter 6, 'On the Origin of Nuns'232From The Book of Consolation and Advice236The Response to Richard de Fournival's Bestiary of Love242The Southern Passion244From A Lover's Confession248250'Whether women are permitted to instruct men'251'Whether women are suitable to consecrate the sacrament'255From The Register of Bishop Trefnant257From Dives and Pauper260Merelaus the Emperor2709A Woman Defends Women278From The Letter of the God of Love279From The Quarrel of the Rose286From The City of Ladies289Bibliography303Index315
