1st Edition

The Mystical Gesture Essays on Medieval and Early Modern Spiritual Culture in Honor of Mary E.Giles

By Robert Boenig Copyright 2000
    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    This title was first published in 2000:  These essays ecplore the spiritual culture shared by texts and writers in Western Europe from the 13th to 17th centuries; the visionaries, mystics and nuns who were poets or scholars and the creative writers who drew on spiritual themes. The topics range chronologically from the late 13th to late 17th centuries and geographically from Germany, England, Italy, France, Spain and New Spain (Mexico), though the volume's centre is the spiritual culture of 16th-century Spain. Common concerns of each essay are the exploration of spiritual culture; how some texts and writers shape expectations attending the life of the spirit; and how they are in turn shaped by them. The sub-themes many of the essays share are the gendering of spiritual culture and the relationship between traditional literary genres like poetry and drama and spiritual discourse.

    Mary E. Giles: Publications, Introduction, Tribute to Mary E. Giles, 1. Mechthild von Magdeburg, the Devil, and Antichrist, 2. The Spirituality of Piers Plowman, 3. Doubled Truth: Skeptical Fideism, Pseudo-Dionysius, and The Second Shepherds' Play, 4. Ecstasy, Prophecy, and Reform: Catherine of Siena as a Model for Holy Women of Sixteenth-Century Spain, 5. Bemadino de Laredo's Treatise on the Mysteries of St. Joseph and the Evangelization of Mexico, 6. What's in a Name: On Teresa of Avila's Book, 7. Teresa and Her Sisters, 8. Demonizing Ecstasy: Alonso de la Fuente and the Alumbrados of Extremadura, 9. The Beautiful Dove, the Body Divine: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza's Mystical Poetics, 10. Cecilia de Nacimiento: Mystic in the Tradition of John of the Cross, 11. Inside My Body Is the Body of God: Margaret Mary Alacoque and the Tradition of Embodied Mysticism, 12. Making Use of the Holy Office: Exploring the Contexts and Concepts of Sor Juana's References to the Inquisition in the Respuesta a Sor Filotea, List of Contributors, Index

    Biography

    Robert Boenig