Blogging Kalamazoo: Sunday Early Morning
May. 11th, 2008 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjSession 541 - Women Warriors and Women in War in the Middle Ages
Images of Inspiration? Women's Roles in Chivalric Spectacles in the Fifteenth Century (Elizabeth L'Estrange)
Descriptions of tournaments, but in literature and history, may include women spectators as a key ingredient. What was their role in this context? The overt purpose is to provide inspiration for the participants and to ceremonially confer prizes for the activities -- an inherently passive role. One variant: the siege of the castle of love -- where the same physical set-up (women watching from an elevated position as men do combat below) includes the women as "participants" either directly repulsing with flowers the men's attempt to besiege their position, or simply tossing flowers at the combatants as they engage each other. All these motifs stand in contradiction to more typical portrayals of women, where an active female gaze represents aggression or sexual challenge. In chivalric literature, a woman's gaze can be the means of "wounding" the lover and fixing his interest. So are the female tournament spectators passive or active participants?
A Pattern of Participation: Norman and Anglo-Norman Women Taking Part in Medieval Warfare (Amy O'Neal)
Anglo-Norman chronicles document the pervasive participation of women in aspects of warfare. Examples: The two Mathildas who raised, financed, and led armies and negotiated peace. Women in charge of castle defense. Frequently participated in negotiations and in advising their male relations during war. These are all examples from the "bellatores" class of society, but other types of examples come from the working classes. During occupation of a town, common women and boys were sent out to set fires to drive out the invaders. Chroniclers describe all these activities as unremarkable (sometimes noting them as admirable) and bring in references to classical and Biblical women as role models for these activities.
Situating Women in the Warrior Culture of Beowulf (Dana Bisignani)
Are the roles of women in poetry representative of women's actual place in their society? But looking for women's power in a culture shouldn't be limited to traditional male forms such as direct military action. Power through speech is a key feature of the women in Beowulf, both in inciting to action and mediating oaths. (And around here I started spacing out and haven't taken very good notes.)
The Pan-Hispanic Ballad of La Doncella Guerrera: Cross-Dressing Woman or Traditional Girl Next Door? (Sarah Portnoy)
Alas, this paper was not presented.
Images of Inspiration? Women's Roles in Chivalric Spectacles in the Fifteenth Century (Elizabeth L'Estrange)
Descriptions of tournaments, but in literature and history, may include women spectators as a key ingredient. What was their role in this context? The overt purpose is to provide inspiration for the participants and to ceremonially confer prizes for the activities -- an inherently passive role. One variant: the siege of the castle of love -- where the same physical set-up (women watching from an elevated position as men do combat below) includes the women as "participants" either directly repulsing with flowers the men's attempt to besiege their position, or simply tossing flowers at the combatants as they engage each other. All these motifs stand in contradiction to more typical portrayals of women, where an active female gaze represents aggression or sexual challenge. In chivalric literature, a woman's gaze can be the means of "wounding" the lover and fixing his interest. So are the female tournament spectators passive or active participants?
A Pattern of Participation: Norman and Anglo-Norman Women Taking Part in Medieval Warfare (Amy O'Neal)
Anglo-Norman chronicles document the pervasive participation of women in aspects of warfare. Examples: The two Mathildas who raised, financed, and led armies and negotiated peace. Women in charge of castle defense. Frequently participated in negotiations and in advising their male relations during war. These are all examples from the "bellatores" class of society, but other types of examples come from the working classes. During occupation of a town, common women and boys were sent out to set fires to drive out the invaders. Chroniclers describe all these activities as unremarkable (sometimes noting them as admirable) and bring in references to classical and Biblical women as role models for these activities.
Situating Women in the Warrior Culture of Beowulf (Dana Bisignani)
Are the roles of women in poetry representative of women's actual place in their society? But looking for women's power in a culture shouldn't be limited to traditional male forms such as direct military action. Power through speech is a key feature of the women in Beowulf, both in inciting to action and mediating oaths. (And around here I started spacing out and haven't taken very good notes.)
The Pan-Hispanic Ballad of La Doncella Guerrera: Cross-Dressing Woman or Traditional Girl Next Door? (Sarah Portnoy)
Alas, this paper was not presented.
