Theology and Vernacular Literary Culture in the Age of Christine de Pizan and Jean Gerson
Sponsoring Organization(s)
International Christine de Pizan Society, North American Branch; Jean Gerson Society
Organizer Name
Matthew Vanderpoel
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Chicago
Presider Name
Kathryn Mogk
Presider Affiliation
Harvard Univ.
Paper Title 1
Translating Jewishness: Gerson, Miracles, and Religious Identity in the Vernacular
Presenter 1 Name
Wendy Love Anderson
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Washington Univ. in St. Louis
Paper Title 2
More than His Own Good: Royal Lordship in Christine de Pizan's Le Livre du corps de policie
Presenter 2 Name
Margaret M. Gower
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame
Paper Title 3
Vernacular Poetics and Latin Theology: D'Ailly and Gerson on the Rose and the Song
Presenter 3 Name
Matthew Vanderpoel
Paper Title 4
A Very Vernacular Saint: Joan of Arc and the Nation
Presenter 4 Name
Geneviève Young
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Start Date
12-5-2018 1:30 PM
Session Location
Bernhard 205
Description
The late medieval expansion of devotional practice across western and central Europe—exemplified perhaps by the Modern Devotion and the Brethren of the Common Life—has often been linked to the use of the vernacular, which was growing in prominence in both religious and less religious genres. Scholars have noted the importance of this vernacular theology, both as a discourse outside of the institutional spaces of scholastic Christian theology and as inflected by the vernacular literary cultures of its participants. However, comparatively little attention has been paid to how the vernacular literary cultures influenced “traditional” modes of doing theology in Christian Europe. This panel seeks to address this lacuna by attending to two giants of the late medieval era: Christine de Pizan and Jean Gerson. These two writers, who engaged with each other in the notorious querelle over the Rose and joined in praising Jeanne d’Arc, stand as Middle French authors steeped in the contemporary literary currents of their day and also active theologians engaging with scholastic and philosophical-theological texts.
Matthew Vanderpoel
Theology and Vernacular Literary Culture in the Age of Christine de Pizan and Jean Gerson
Bernhard 205
The late medieval expansion of devotional practice across western and central Europe—exemplified perhaps by the Modern Devotion and the Brethren of the Common Life—has often been linked to the use of the vernacular, which was growing in prominence in both religious and less religious genres. Scholars have noted the importance of this vernacular theology, both as a discourse outside of the institutional spaces of scholastic Christian theology and as inflected by the vernacular literary cultures of its participants. However, comparatively little attention has been paid to how the vernacular literary cultures influenced “traditional” modes of doing theology in Christian Europe. This panel seeks to address this lacuna by attending to two giants of the late medieval era: Christine de Pizan and Jean Gerson. These two writers, who engaged with each other in the notorious querelle over the Rose and joined in praising Jeanne d’Arc, stand as Middle French authors steeped in the contemporary literary currents of their day and also active theologians engaging with scholastic and philosophical-theological texts.
Matthew Vanderpoel