- Tampere, Finland
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Demonic possession was a spiritual state that often had physical symptoms; however, in Demonic Possession and Lived Religion in Later Medieval Europe, Sari Katajala-Peltomaa argues that demonic possession was a social phenomenon which... more
Demonic possession was a spiritual state that often had physical symptoms; however, in Demonic Possession and Lived Religion in Later Medieval Europe, Sari Katajala-Peltomaa argues that demonic possession was a social phenomenon which should be understood with regard to the community and culture. She focuses on significant case studies from canonization processes (c. 1240-1450) which show how each set of sources formed its own specific context, in which demonic presence derived from different motivations, reasonings, and methods of categorization. The chosen perspective is that of lived religion, which is both a thematic approach and a methodology: a focus on rituals, symbols, and gestures, as well as sensitivity to nuances and careful contextualizing of the cases are constitutive elements of the argumentation. The analysis contests the hierarchy between the 'learned' and the 'popular' within religion, as well as the existence of a strict polarity between individual and collective religious participation. Demonic presence disclosed negotiations over authority and agency; it shows how the personal affected the communal, and vice versa, and how they were eventually transformed into discourses and institutions of the Church; that is, definitions of the miraculous and the diabolical. Geographically, the volume covers Western Europe, comparing Northern and Southern material and customs. The structure follows the logic of the phenomenon, beginning with the background reasons offered as a cause of demonic possession, continuing with communities' responses and emotions, including construction of sacred caregiving methods. Finally, the ways in which demonic presence contributed to wider societal debates in the fields of politics and spirituality are discussed. Alterity and inversion of identity, gender, and various forms of corporeality and the interplay between the sacred and diabolical are themes that run all through the volume.
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This study is an exploration of lived religion and gender across the Reformation, from the 14th–18th centuries. Combining conceptual development with empirical history, the authors explore these two topics via themes of power, agency,... more
This study is an exploration of lived religion and gender across the Reformation, from the 14th–18th centuries. Combining conceptual development with empirical history, the authors explore these two topics via themes of power, agency, work, family, sainthood and witchcraft.
By advancing the theoretical category of ‘experience’, Lived Religion and Gender reveals multiple femininities and masculinities in the intersectional context of lived religion. The authors analyse specific case studies from both medieval and early modern sources, such as secular court records, to tell the stories of both individuals and large social groups. By exploring lived religion and gender on a range of social levels including the domestic sphere, public devotion and spirituality, this study explains how late medieval and early modern people performed both religion and gender in ways that were vastly different from what ideologists have prescribed.
Lived Religion and Gender covers a wide geographical area in western Europe including Italy, Scandinavia and Finland, making this study an invaluable resource for scholars and students concerned with the history of religion, the history of gender, the history of the family, as well as medieval and early modern European history.
The Introduction of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license and is available here: https://tandfbis.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rt-files/docs/Open+Access+Chapters/9781351003384_oaintroduction.pdf
By advancing the theoretical category of ‘experience’, Lived Religion and Gender reveals multiple femininities and masculinities in the intersectional context of lived religion. The authors analyse specific case studies from both medieval and early modern sources, such as secular court records, to tell the stories of both individuals and large social groups. By exploring lived religion and gender on a range of social levels including the domestic sphere, public devotion and spirituality, this study explains how late medieval and early modern people performed both religion and gender in ways that were vastly different from what ideologists have prescribed.
Lived Religion and Gender covers a wide geographical area in western Europe including Italy, Scandinavia and Finland, making this study an invaluable resource for scholars and students concerned with the history of religion, the history of gender, the history of the family, as well as medieval and early modern European history.
The Introduction of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license and is available here: https://tandfbis.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rt-files/docs/Open+Access+Chapters/9781351003384_oaintroduction.pdf
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Noitavaimo ja neitsytäiti ravistelee keskuajan ja uuden ajan alun naiskuvan myyttejä nostamalla pyhimysten ja noitien rinnalle oikeasti eläneiden naisten tarinoita. Nämä naiset tapasivat ystäviään, huolehtivat lapsistan, riitelivt... more
Noitavaimo ja neitsytäiti ravistelee keskuajan ja uuden ajan alun naiskuvan myyttejä nostamalla pyhimysten ja noitien rinnalle oikeasti eläneiden naisten tarinoita. Nämä naiset tapasivat ystäviään, huolehtivat lapsistan, riitelivt anoppinsa kanssa ja tekivät töitä siinä missä miehetkin. Mutta miten tuon ajan tavalliset naiset näivät oman elämänsä ja mahdollisuutensa?
Teos tarjoaa mahdollisuuden kurkistaa keskuajan ja uuden ajan alun naisten arkeen, joka on myyttejä paljon värikkäämpää. Arkielämän tutkimus on nostanut esiin uusia piirteitä keskiajan ja uuden ajan alun naisten elämästä: noitavainot eivät olleen naisvainoja eikä uskonto naisvihamielistä. TOdellisuus oli kuvitelmia paljon värikkäämpi, mutta vanhat käsitykset vaikuttavat edelleen nykynaisten elämään.
Teos tarjoaa mahdollisuuden kurkistaa keskuajan ja uuden ajan alun naisten arkeen, joka on myyttejä paljon värikkäämpää. Arkielämän tutkimus on nostanut esiin uusia piirteitä keskiajan ja uuden ajan alun naisten elämästä: noitavainot eivät olleen naisvainoja eikä uskonto naisvihamielistä. TOdellisuus oli kuvitelmia paljon värikkäämpi, mutta vanhat käsitykset vaikuttavat edelleen nykynaisten elämään.