New Medieval Books: An Introduction to Jean Bodel
Those studying medieval literature will enjoy having this excellent biography of a somewhat under-appreciated twelfth-century writer.
The Ghost Knight
This week on The Medieval Podcast, it’s story time, with a tale that crosses over between fabliau and courtly love: The Ghost Knight. Danièle shares the story of how a knight manages to win his lady with a little supernatural sleight-of-hand.
The Peasant Doctor: A Medieval Turnaround Tale
One of the best ways to learn about a culture is to figure out its sense of humour. In medieval Europe, this means looking at fabliaux: short, funny tales that demonstrate common stereotypes and jokes – usually sexual, violent, and containing a clear scapegoat.
The Snow Baby: A Cautionary Tale
Most of the time, fabliaux are lighthearted and lusty, but occasionally they stray into dark humour, like ‘The Snow Baby’.
From Swifan to Swyved: Contemplating the Evolution of Medieval Double-Entendre Literature
Throughout history verbal jousts tested a participant’s creativity, knowledge, and mastery of language, thus catalyzing the evolution of so-called wisdom literature.
“Walkynge in the mede” : Chaucerian gardens and the recasting of the Edenic fall
In this thesis, I intend to illustrate how Chaucer uses his knowledge of garden traditions, both biblical and practical, to discuss the concept of the Garden of Eden and the Fall of humanity.
Contemplating the Evolution of Medieval Double-Entendre Literature
The linguistic composition of the Exeter Book Riddles supports this, and in fact, the genre became a refuge for contemporary colloquial speech which was seen as coarse and lower class within the ideologies of Christianity and Germanic heroism.
Triangles of the Sacred Sisterhood
In courtly works, the resolution is generally in favour of the status quo as a courtly adulterous affair rarely works out, while in the fabliau the marriage is generally left intact, although a deceitful wife may be given carte blanche to philander.
Men’s Words in Women’s Mouths: Why Misogynous Stereotypes are Humorous in the Old French Fabliaux
How can misogyny, or any such unabashed and unrepentant diatribe against women, be part of a genre which is largely considered to be comic?
The Manuscript Context of the Middle Dutch Fabliaux
Busby’s conclusion with regard to Old French fabliaux might just as well apply to Middle Dutch tales: “Reading fabliaux in their manuscript context reveals an important aspect of their significance for early readers or listeners which would otherwise remain concealed.”
The Farce of the Fart – new book offers scandalous plays from medieval France
They were the sitcoms of their time –– lowbrow comedies that lampooned every serious topic, from sex and relationships to politics and religion
The Bad Behaviour of Friars and Women in Medieval Catalan fabliaux and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
They perpetrate many deceptions in order to gain a sexual or monetary advantage over their victims and are portrayed as malicious mischief-makers and the protagonists of humorous and smutty stories. Women also feature in these either as deceived victims or as the perpetrators of deception, as they outwit their husbands in order to enjoy their own adulterous affairs.
Turnabout is Fair Play: Cross-Dressing and Female Tricksters in Medieval French Texts
I will be examining a very particular version of this woman. In each case she appears, at least for a time, in disguise, in male garb.