‘I, Too, am a Christian’: Early Martyrs and their Lives in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Irish Manuscript Tradition

2011 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 193-207
Author(s):  
Salvador Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Manuscript Tradition ◽  
Over Time

Veneration of the martyrs as powerful intercessors and exemplars of Christ-like fortitude is one of the earliest and most powerful manifestations of Christian religious practice. Not only were martyrs thought to be assured of salvation, but the blood which they shed was conceived by Tertullian as ‘seed’ for the upbuilding of the Christian Church. As legends of their lives and, more importantly, the manner of their deaths developed over time, martyrs would also function as valuable instructors in the essentials of the Christian life, their speeches before death often assuming a sermon-like quality. By the fifth century recourse to the relics of martyrs was also already well established. The cult of the martyrs would have a long future.

Popular Romance in Iceland

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheryl McDonald Werronen
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Literary Genre ◽  
Literature Discussion ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Popular Romance ◽  
Manuscript Tradition ◽  
The World ◽  
King Of France ◽  
Manuscript Context

A late medieval Icelandic romance about the ‘maiden-king’ of France, Nítída saga generated interest in its day and grew in popularity in post-Reformation Iceland, yet until now it has not received the comprehensive scholarly analysis that it much deserves. Analysing this saga from a variety of perspectives, this book sheds light on the manner in which Nítída saga explores and negotiates the romance genre from an Icelandic perspective, showcasing this exciting saga’s strong female characters, worldviews, and long manuscript tradition. Beginning with Nítída saga’s manuscript context, including its reception and transformation in early modern Iceland, this study also discusses how Nítída saga was influenced by, and also later influenced, other Icelandic romances. Considering the text as literature, discussion of its unusual depiction of world geography, as well as the various characters and their relationships, provides insights into medieval Icelanders’ ideas about themselves and the world they lived in, including questions about Icelandic identity, gender, female solidarity, and the literary genre of romance itself. The book also includes a newly revised reading edition and translation of Nítída saga.

scholarly journals Narrative Charms in Late Medieval and Early Modern Wales

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-352
Author(s):  
Katherine Leach
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
General Development ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Early Modern Era ◽  
Changing Attitudes ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Over Time

AbstractIn this article I will consider the general development of Welsh narrative charms from the earliest examples (late fourteenth century) up to the first decades of the Early Modern Era in Wales (mid-to-late sixteenth century). I will focus on the most common narrative charm types of this time: those that feature the motifs of Longinus, the Three Good Brothers, and Flum Jordan or Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. The development of these charms over time can provide insights into changing attitudes in Wales towards healing, religion, superstition, and even language. By the onset of the Early Modern era, Welsh narrative charms were increasingly subject to rhetorical expansions of the religious narratives that constituted the efficacious component of the charm. Additionally, by the end of the fifteenth century and into the early sixteenth, charms that once commonly featured Latin as the predominant language demonstrated an increased preference for the vernacular.1

Triple-Deckers and Eagle Lecterns: Church Furniture for the Book in Late Medieval and Early Modern England

2004 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 143-152
Author(s):  
Susan Wabuda
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Cost

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.’ When Jesus stood up to read these verses from Isaiah at the start of his public ministry, as he began to reveal himself as the Word in the synagogue of Nazareth, the book ‘he had opened’ at the reading desk was one of the Torah scrolls, brought out for him from the Ark of the Law, the imposing reserve which is, from age to age, the most sacred part of any synagogue. Holy Scripture has always been a public book, a treasure for each synagogue, and for the commonwealth of the Christian community sacred as text and object. But the mystical sanctity of the Bible, and holy books in general, has raised a perennial problem. Precious books have usually been hedged round by restrictions to protect them from the profane, even at the cost of obscuring the public approach which is a necessary part of assembled worship. In this episode in the life of Christ, when the listeners grew too ‘filled with wrath’ for him to continue, we meet the deep and recurrent tension between the community’s need to hear the Word, and the conflicting desire to shield its essential sanctity, which accompanied the book from Judaism in transition to the Christian Church.

Doubtful Readers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin A. McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
William Shakespeare ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
English Literature ◽  
John Donne ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Aemilia Lanyer ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Early Modern Poetry ◽  
Literary Histories ◽  
Over Time

Doubtful Readers: Print, Poetry, and the Reading Public in Early Modern England focuses on early modern publishers’ efforts to identify and accommodate new readers of verse that had previously been restricted to particular social networks in manuscript. Focusing on the period between the maturing of the market for printed English literature in the 1590s and the emergence of the professional poet following the Restoration, this study shows that poetry was shaped by—and itself shaped—strong print publication traditions. By reading printed editions of poems by William Shakespeare, Aemilia Lanyer, John Donne, and others, this book shows how publishers negotiated genre, gender, social access, reputation, literary knowledge, and the value of English literature itself. It uses literary, historical, bibliographical, and quantitative evidence to show how publishers’ strategies changed over time. Ultimately, Doubtful Readers argues that although—or perhaps because—publishers’ interpretive and editorial efforts are often elided in studies of early modern poetry, their interventions have had an enduring impact on our canons, texts, and literary histories.

Syriac and Syro-Arabic Historical Writing, c.500–c.1400

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Debié ◽  
David Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Imperial History ◽  
Church Structures ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter analyzes how Syriac historiography is a rare example of non-etatist, non-imperial, history writing. It was produced, copied, and preserved entirely within Christian church structures. The Syriac-using Christians, however, were divided into numerous rival denominations and communities as a consequence both of the fifth-century theological controversies and of geopolitical boundaries. And since both of these factors strongly influenced both the motivations which underpinned the production of history writing and the forms it took, historians need to have some knowledge of these rival Syriac denominations. Because of internal Christian debates about the relationship of the divinity and humanity within Christ during the fifth century, the Syriac-using churches fragmented. All accepted that Christ was perfect God and perfect man, but differed fiercely about how to articulate this.

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