Overview

This volume explores medieval anchoritism (the life of a solitary religious recluse) from a variety of perspectives. The individual essays conceive anchoritism in broadly interpretive categories: challenging perceived notions of the very concept of anchoritic rule and guidance; studying the interaction between language and linguistic forms; addressing the connection between anchoritism and other forms of solitude (particularly in European tales of sanctity); and exploring the influence of anchoritic literature on lay devotion. As a whole, the volume illuminates the richness and fluidity of anchoritic texts and contexts and shows how anchoritism pervaded the spirituality of the Middle Ages, for lay and religious alike. It moves through both space and time, ranging from the third century to the sixteenth, from England to the Continent and back.

Full Product Details

9781322345505

Table of Contents

Reviews

Emerging from a powerful meeting of the International Anchoritic Society in Japan in 2008, this volume explores the development of anchoritism across Europe, including in works by spiritual writers such as Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and Dorothy of Mantau. Deepening our understanding of the linguistic features of the originary texts as well as the development of lay spirituality, these essays make a significant contribution to the recent efflorescence of critical attention to the history of spirituality. --Elizabeth Robertson, University of Glasgow

Author Information

Catherine Innes-Parker is professor in the Department of English at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Canada. Naoe Kukita Yoshikawa is professor of English in the Department of Language and Literature at Shizuoka University in Japan.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available