Fallen Bodies

Pollution, Sexuality, and Demonology in the Middle Ages

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Church, Church History, History, Medieval
Cover of the book Fallen Bodies by Dyan Elliott, University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Dyan Elliott ISBN: 9780812200737
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. Publication: August 3, 2010
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press Language: English
Author: Dyan Elliott
ISBN: 9780812200737
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication: August 3, 2010
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Language: English

Medieval clerics believed that original sin had rendered their "fallen bodies" vulnerable to corrupting impulses—particularly those of a sexual nature. They feared that their corporeal frailty left them susceptible to demonic forces bent on penetrating and polluting their bodies and souls.

Drawing on a variety of canonical and other sources, Fallen Bodies examines a wide-ranging set of issues generated by fears of pollution, sexuality, and demonology. To maintain their purity, celibate clerics combated the stain of nocturnal emissions; married clerics expelled their wives onto the streets and out of the historical record; an exemplum depicting a married couple having sex in church was told and retold; and the specter of the demonic lover further stigmatized women's sexuality. Over time, the clergy's conceptions of womanhood became radically polarized: the Virgin Mary was accorded ever greater honor, while real, corporeal women were progressively denigrated. When church doctrine definitively denied the physicality of demons, the female body remained as the prime material presence of sin.

Dyan Elliott contends that the Western clergy's efforts to contain sexual instincts—and often the very thought and image of woman—precipitated uncanny returns of the repressed. She shows how this dynamic ultimately resulted in the progressive conflation of the female and the demonic, setting the stage for the future persecution of witches.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Medieval clerics believed that original sin had rendered their "fallen bodies" vulnerable to corrupting impulses—particularly those of a sexual nature. They feared that their corporeal frailty left them susceptible to demonic forces bent on penetrating and polluting their bodies and souls.

Drawing on a variety of canonical and other sources, Fallen Bodies examines a wide-ranging set of issues generated by fears of pollution, sexuality, and demonology. To maintain their purity, celibate clerics combated the stain of nocturnal emissions; married clerics expelled their wives onto the streets and out of the historical record; an exemplum depicting a married couple having sex in church was told and retold; and the specter of the demonic lover further stigmatized women's sexuality. Over time, the clergy's conceptions of womanhood became radically polarized: the Virgin Mary was accorded ever greater honor, while real, corporeal women were progressively denigrated. When church doctrine definitively denied the physicality of demons, the female body remained as the prime material presence of sin.

Dyan Elliott contends that the Western clergy's efforts to contain sexual instincts—and often the very thought and image of woman—precipitated uncanny returns of the repressed. She shows how this dynamic ultimately resulted in the progressive conflation of the female and the demonic, setting the stage for the future persecution of witches.

More books from University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Cover of the book The Queen's Dumbshows by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Biotech by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Women as Unseen Characters by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book China and Africa by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Beyond Civil Rights by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Cancer in the Lives of Older Americans by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book The Roman Inquisition by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Of Bondage by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Witchcraft and Magic by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Human Rights in American Foreign Policy by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book The Making and Unmaking of a Saint by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Everyday Politics by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Poems of the Elder Edda by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Human Rights Transformation in Practice by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Republic of Taste by Dyan Elliott
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy