Description
This book explores the debates surrounding ecclesiastical reform in western Europe during the eleventh and early twelfth centuries. It takes a new perspective by examining how contemporary political writers used textual and visual images of the Church's "private" life to convey messages about "public" life. The book argues that these images were influenced by ideas about sexuality and gender, and that the boundaries between public and private were fluid during this time period due to political realities and changes in household life.
The eleventh and early twelfth centuries were a period of intense debate over ecclesiastical reform in western Europe. This book examines the debates from a new perspective, exploring the ways in which contemporary political writers conveyed messages about 'public' life through textual and sometimes visual images of the 'private' life of the Church. It argues that the images they used - of bishops as husbands of their sees, of the laity as the sons of Mother Church, and of the pope as father of bishops - were shaped not only by intellectual and ritual traditions, but also by contemporary ideas about sexuality and gender. Megan McLaughlin reveals that the boundaries between the 'public' and the 'private' were extremely fluid in the central middle ages - both because of both the realities of political life in that period and the changing nature of life within European households.
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