In this book Thomas H. Bestul constructs the literary history of the Latin Passion narratives, placing them within their social, cultural, and historical contexts. He examines the ways in which the Passion is narrated and renarrated in devotional treatises, paying particular attention to the modifications and enlargements of the narrative of the Passion as it is presented in the canonical gospels. Of particular interest to Bestul are the representations of Jews, women, and the body of the crucified Christ. Bestul argues that the greatly enlarged role of the Jews in the Passion narratives of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is connected to the rising anti-Judaism of the period. He explores how the representations of women, particularly the Virgin Mary, express cultural values about the place of women in late medieval society and reveal an increased interest in female subjectivity.
Author(s): Thomas H. Bestul
Series: The Middle Ages Series
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 272
City: Philadelphia
Acknowledgments vii
Chapter 1. Introduction: Methodology and Theoretical Orientations 1
Chapter 2. Medieval Narratives of the Passion of Christ 26
Chapter 3. The Representation of the Jews in Medieval Passion Narratives 69
Chapter 4. Gender and the Representation of Women in Medieval Passion Narratives 111
Chapter 5. The Passion of Christ and the Institution of Torture 145
Appendix 1. Meditation by Bernard on the Lamentation of the Blessed Virgin (Meditacio Bernardi de lamentacione beate virginis) 165
Appendix 2. Preliminary Catalogue of Medieval Passion Narratives 186
Notes 193
Bibliography 239
Index 258
