Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love

310 Pages·1992·15.49 MB·English

by  R. Howard Bloch

MEDIEVAL MISOGYNY AND THE
INVENTION OF WESTERN ROMANTIC LOVE
and the Invention
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
M·I·S·O·G·Y·N·Y
of Western Romantic Love
R. HOWARD BLOCH
Chicago& Lonoon
The UniversityofChicago Press, Chicago 60637
The UniversityofChicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1991 byThe UniversityofChicago
All rights reserved. Published 1991
Printedin the United States ofAmerica
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 34 5 6 7
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bloch, R. Howard
Medieval misogyny and the invention ofWestern romantic love / R.
Howard Bloch.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-226-05973-1 (pbk.)
1. Women-History-MiddleAges, 500-1500. 2. Misogyny-Europe
History. 3. Patriarchy-Europe-History. 4. Love-History.
1. Title.
HQll143.B56 1991
305.4'09'02-dc20 91-12699
CIP
§ The paperused in this publication meets the minimum requirements ofthe
American NationalStandardfor InformationSciences-Permanence ofPaperfor
Printed LibraryMaterials,ANSI Z39.48-1984.
This bookis dedicatedtomymother, VirginiaR. Bloch,
andtothememoryofmyfather, BertramH. Bloch, 1913-1990

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments tx
Introduction 1
ONE
MolestiaeNuptiarumandtheYahwistCreation 13
TWO
EarlyChristianityandtheEstheticizationofGender 37
THREE
"Devil'sGateway"and"BrideofChrist" 65
FOUR
ThePoeticsofVirginity 93
F I V E
TheOldFrenchLayandtheMyriadModesofMaleIndiscretion 113
S I X
TheLoveLyricandtheParadoxofPerfection 143
SEVEN
HeiressesandDowagers: ThePowerofWomentoDispose 165
Notes 199
Bibliography 271
Index 291
Vtt

A C K NOW LED G MEN T S
Muchofwhatistobeadmiredinthisbookresultsfromtheattentivelistening
andengagingresponsesofthosewhoattendedmyseminarsattheUniversity
ofCalifornia, Berkeley, andthe Newberry Library, Chicago, as wellas from
careful readings by friends and others who expressed concern for my social
anddomesticwell-being.This,then,isadeliciousopportunitytoexpressmy
thankstoPeterAllen,AlbertAscoli,GeorgeBeech,CharlesBernheimer,Leo
Bersani,DanielBoyarin,AdamBresnick,CatherineBrown,KevinBrownlee,
Caroline Bynum, Jane Chance, Susan Crane, Carolyn Dinshaw, Shoshana
Felman, Dolores Frese, Sepp Gumbrecht, Penny Shine Gold, Janice Butler
Holm, Sylvia Huot, Sam Kinser, Anne Knudsen, Alexandre Leupin, Leo
Lowenthal, Stephen G. Nichols, Nancy Regalado, Mary Beth Rose, Tilde
Sankovitch,DavidStern,TomStillinger,MogensTrolleLarsen,SylviaToma
sch, and Eugene Vance. The group aroundRepresentations is, ofcourse, an
enduringsourceofintellectualpep,andtheeveningdiscussionofmyoriginal
paperon misogyny in Mike Rogin's living room in the presence ofJacques
Revel produced afracas for the ages. So too, the publishedresponse to this
paperin theMedievalFeministNewslettermarkedthe beginningofasalutary
dialoguewhoseeffectsuponthepagesthatfollowaretheverystuffofmean
ingfulintellectualexchange;forthisIamgratefultoElizabethClark,Wendy
Clein, Elaine Hansen, Peggy Knapp, Marshall Leicester, Linda Lomperis,
CarolNeel, andHelenSolterer.Wheretheactualpreparationofthebookis
concerned, I amindebtedto LysAnnShore,whoseexpertcopyeditingand
knowledgeofmedievalsourcesmadethefinalversionmoreprecisethanatthe
outset,andespeciallytoKatharineStreip,whoseassistanceineveryaspectof
thecurrentendeavor-fromthesleuthingofelusivesourcesandtheproofing
oftangledprosetoastutecriticismofsubstance-waswithoutequal. Finally,
I am saddened that Joel Fineman did not live to see the final product ofa
dialoguethatbenefitedmorethanalittlefromhiswacky,generousbrilliance.
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