This course provides an introduction to the major women authors of the Middle Ages, translated from Latin, English, French, and Occitan, and spanning the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. The love letters of Heloise, the lais of Marie de France, and the lyrics of the women troubadours exemplify the courtly and erotic traditions that flourished during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Devotional and visionary literature will be represented by the plays of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim and Hildegard of Bingen, the mystical meditations of Julian of Norwich, and the spiritual autobiography of Margery Kempe. A final segment focuses on Christine de Pisan, who sought to synthesize the erotic and devotional traditions and who was renowned for her revisionist accounts of mythology and history in favor of women.

We will study the ways in which our authors adapt and transform existing genres to suit their own artistic purposes. We will ask whether they tried to situate themselves in a tradition of women. Margery Kempe, for example, described the lasting impact of her meeting with the mystical writer Julian of Norwich, and Christine de Pisan wrote the only contemporary tribute to Joan of Arc. As time permits, we will look into the contemporary reception of these authors, the means of dissemination of their texts, and the way in which historical circumstances have led to the repeated disappearance and rediscovery of medieval women’s writings by later generations. Guest speakers will discuss the important musical and iconographical traditions that accompany some of our readings.

Requirements include three papers and a final examination. This course is recommended for students who have taken a 200-level course in literature or a course in some aspect of medieval culture. It is cross-listed in Medieval studies, Women’s Studies, French and English.

Satisfies requirement 3A for English Majors.