Workshop on Women's Bodies and Religious Practice in Late Medieval Europe

Caroline Walker Bynum, University of Washington (now at Columbia University)

Tuesday, April 5: The Theology of the Body in the Thirteenth Century

In this workshop Professor Bynum reassessed modern notions about the way medieval people regarded the boy, in light of the theological debates of the later Middle Ages concerning the resurrection of the body and theological embryology. This evidence suggests that medieval attitudes toward the boy were more positive than has been thought and that the place of the body in ascetic practice has been misunderstood.

Wednesday, April 6: Women’s Miracles and Practices: Some Problems of Interpretation

This workshop explores examples of medieval asceticism, especially the severe asceticism of medieval women, and considered such issues as the use of hagiography as source material and the relationship between theology and practice.

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