In "Women of the Twelfth Century: Eve and the Church, "Georges Duby
concerns himself with the relationship between women and the
church, examining the ways in which women were viewed from a
Christian point of view. By the twelfth century, the Church had
begun to take the role and expectations of women seriously, and the
clerical writings discussed in this work address the particular
issues that emerged from this development.
In the first chapter, "The Sins of Women," Duby concentrates on the
sins deemed to be particular to women (amongst others these include
sorcery, disobedience, and licentiousness) and focuses especially
on the male fear of female sexuality and magic. The second chapter
is based on twelfth-century commentaries on the chapters in Genesis
dealing with Eve's role in the fall from grace in the Garden of
Eden. Interpreting these writings, and the earlier writings upon
which they were based, Duby shows how they reflect the reasoning
behind the view held of women as unstable, curious, and frivolous
creatures. The third section is based on letters written by clerics
to women of noble status and nuns. Here, while the charges of
instability and frivolousness are once again levelled at women,
their praise is also sung for their marital and motherly values.
The final section concentrates solely on the most famous text of
this period by Andreas Capellanus ("De Amore"), and sets it within
the context of the supposed twelfth-century discovery of love and
the courtly love tradition.
As the third and last part of Duby's three-volume study of the
lives of French noblewomen of the twelfth century, this book
confirms the author as one of the greatest historians of theMiddle
Ages. It will be of great interest to students and researchers of
medieval history and women's history, as well as anyone interested
in the historical relationship between women and the Church.
General
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