German medieval romance

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WOMEN AND MARRIAGE IN GERMAN MEDIEVAL ROMANCE

In contrast to the widespread view that the Middle Ages were a static, unchanging period in which attitudes to women were uniformly negative, D. H. Green argues that in the twelfth century the conventional relationship between men and women was subject to significant challenge through discussions in thevernacular literature of the period. Hitherto, scholarly interest in gender relations in such literature has largely focused on French romance or on literature in English from a later period. By turning the focus on the rich material to be garnered from Germany – including Erec, Tristan and Parzival – Professor Green shows how some vernacular writers devised methods to debate and challenge theundoubted antifeminism of the day by presenting a utopian model, supported by a revision of views by the Church, to contrast with contemporary practice. d.h. green is Professor Emeritus in the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College.

cambridge studies in medieval literature
General editor Alastair Minnis, Yale University Editorial board Zygmunt G. Barański, University of CambridgeChristopher C. Baswell, University of California, Los Angeles John Burrow, University of Bristol Mary Carruthers, New York University Rita Copeland, University of Pennsylvania Simon Gaunt, King’s College, London Steven Kruger, City University of New York Nigel Palmer, University of Oxford Winthrop Wetherbee, Cornell University Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Fordham University

This series of criticalbooks seeks to cover the whole area of literature written in the major medieval languages – the main European vernaculars, and medieval Latin and Greek – during the period c.1100–1500. Its chief aim is to publish and stimulate fresh scholarship and criticism on medieval literature, special emphasis being placed on understanding major works of poetry, prose, and drama in relation to the contemporaryculture and learning which fostered them. Recent titles in the series Mary Dove The First English Bible: The Text and Context of the Wycliffite Versions Jenni Nuttall The Creation of Lancastrian Kingship: Literature, Language and Politics in Late Medieval England Laura Ashe Fiction and History in England, 1066–1200 Mary Carruthers The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture J. A.Burrow The Poetry of Praise Andrew Cole Literature and Heresy in the Age of Chaucer Suzanne M. Yeager Jerusalem in Medieval Narrative Nicole R. Rice Lay Piety and Religious Discipline in Middle English Literature D. H. Green Women and Marriage in German Medieval Romance Peter Godman Paradoxes of Conscience in the High Middle Ages: Abelard, Heloise and the Archpoet A complete list of titles in theseries can be found at the end of the volume.

WOMEN AND MARRIAGE IN GERMAN MEDIEVAL ROMANCE
D. H. GREEN

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Informationon this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521513357 © D. H. Green 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2009

ISBN-13 ISBN-13

978-0-511-51798-3 978-0-521-51335-7eBook (NetLibrary) hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Contents

Preface List of abbreviations Introduction part i t h e r o l e o f w o m e n...