| Legend of Holy Women: Theology Contributor(s): Delany, Sheila (Author) |
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ISBN: 0268012954 ISBN-13: 9780268012953 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press OUR PRICE: $28.71 Product Type: Paperback Published: December 1992 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Medieval - Religion | Christianity - Literature & The Arts |
| Dewey: 821.2 |
| LCCN: 91051117 |
| Series: Notre Dame Texts in Medieval Culture |
| Physical Information: 0.77" H x 5.56" W x 9.16" (0.76 lbs) 256 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Sheila Delany's spirited translation of Osbern Bokenham's Legendys of Hooly Wummen (1443-1447) makes available in modern English the first all-female hagiography. Closely translated from elaborate, Latinate Middle English verse into fluent prose, A Legend of Holy Women contains the Augustinian friar's version of the stories of 13 women saints from gospel, apocrypha, martyrology, and high-medieval history. As Delany writes in her comprehensive introduction, "Bokenham gives us not only an all-female hagiography-an authorial decision significant in its own right-but a gallery of powerful, articulate women who are indubitably worthy to do God's work. Some of them are well-educated, some give sound political advice to a monarch, some preach, converting hundreds and thousands to Christianity, some walk on water or perform resurrection. Nor are they pacifists; on the contrary, they call for divinely inflicted vengeance and approve violence in their cause." Delany argues that Geoffrey Chaucer's Legend of Good Women provided a principle of selection and of arrangement for Bokenham's array of saints. She suggests further that the friar's choice of all-female hagiography, and his poetic representation of holy women, are closely linked to patronage and politics in fifteenth-century England. The translation is accompanied by full notes which, along with the introduction, make the book accessible to a wide audience. It will appeal to all readers interested in the representation of women in late-medieval culture as well as to scholars and students in medieval, renaissance, religious, and women's studies. |
Contributor Bio(s): Delany, Sheila: - Dr. Sheila Delany is an emerita professor of English at Simon Fraser University. |
