Hearts for Academics!
I currently have 7 tabs open on my browser - this one, Pandora for music, and then five tabs for Sir Orfeo - a Middle English version, an English version, an introduction to the ME, and two ME glossary type things. This is kind of utter bliss.
So - yesterday for history read the chapter entitled Royal Women of England and France in the Mid-Thirteenth Century: A Gendered Perspective, from Margaret Howell's book (I think it's her book. We only got the pdf with the one chapter) England and Europe in the Reign of Henry III. I don't know anything about the rest of the book, but this chapter was totally fabulous. Howell's ultimate conclusion is that "Gender was not always formal and ritualised, not always trapped in the rulings of canon law or the conventions of secular romance; it was one thread in the web of human relationships. Among real men and women it was for ever various and individual." Which is just so very refreshing to me. The chapter examines the marriages, relationships, and power of 12 royal women - 10 of whom ruled as queens - who were connected to Henry III and Louis IX. Howell strikes a lovely balance between recognizing that this was a patriarchal society in which men made the rules and held the majority of the power, and indeed notes that one of our queens, Isabella Plantagenet, was not treated well at all by her husband, but also shows us how the majority of these 12 women were both well-treated, even loved, by their husbands and also held a certain measure of power all their own. She looks at the practice of intercession, showing how although a lot of the formal ritual of it was in place to lessen the impact of the woman's influence, in practice these women - and, she makes especial note of, various men as well; intercession was not a gendered practice, in practice - held great power. It was a wonderful thing to read and made me super happy.
And then of course we didn't talk about it in class. Whatevs.
We did get to hear the wondrous story of Pope Celestine V, though. It goes something like this:
Cardinals: Hmm, we need to choose a new pope.
Letter from Peter the Hermit: Y'all are gonna buuuuurn if you don't choose a pope soon!
Cardinals: Crap. *scared faces* We choose you, Peter! You're like, the holiest dude alive! You shall henceforth be Celestine V!
Celestine: No, thanks, I'm a hermit! *runs away* <--- literally. He ran. They chased him down.
Cardinals: No, for realz. You're pope.
Celestine: ....damn. Can I abdicate?
Boniface VIII (only not, at this point): *shifty eyes* Yeah, dude, totally! Here, I'll help you show how legal it is!
Celestine: Cool beans, I'm outta here.
Boniface: Hmm, guess I need to be pope now. Fiiiine, I'll do it!
Cardinals: *chase Celestine down again and put him under house arrest so there won't be a chance of schism*
The papal history rocks, y'all.
So - yesterday for history read the chapter entitled Royal Women of England and France in the Mid-Thirteenth Century: A Gendered Perspective, from Margaret Howell's book (I think it's her book. We only got the pdf with the one chapter) England and Europe in the Reign of Henry III. I don't know anything about the rest of the book, but this chapter was totally fabulous. Howell's ultimate conclusion is that "Gender was not always formal and ritualised, not always trapped in the rulings of canon law or the conventions of secular romance; it was one thread in the web of human relationships. Among real men and women it was for ever various and individual." Which is just so very refreshing to me. The chapter examines the marriages, relationships, and power of 12 royal women - 10 of whom ruled as queens - who were connected to Henry III and Louis IX. Howell strikes a lovely balance between recognizing that this was a patriarchal society in which men made the rules and held the majority of the power, and indeed notes that one of our queens, Isabella Plantagenet, was not treated well at all by her husband, but also shows us how the majority of these 12 women were both well-treated, even loved, by their husbands and also held a certain measure of power all their own. She looks at the practice of intercession, showing how although a lot of the formal ritual of it was in place to lessen the impact of the woman's influence, in practice these women - and, she makes especial note of, various men as well; intercession was not a gendered practice, in practice - held great power. It was a wonderful thing to read and made me super happy.
And then of course we didn't talk about it in class. Whatevs.
We did get to hear the wondrous story of Pope Celestine V, though. It goes something like this:
Cardinals: Hmm, we need to choose a new pope.
Letter from Peter the Hermit: Y'all are gonna buuuuurn if you don't choose a pope soon!
Cardinals: Crap. *scared faces* We choose you, Peter! You're like, the holiest dude alive! You shall henceforth be Celestine V!
Celestine: No, thanks, I'm a hermit! *runs away* <--- literally. He ran. They chased him down.
Cardinals: No, for realz. You're pope.
Celestine: ....damn. Can I abdicate?
Boniface VIII (only not, at this point): *shifty eyes* Yeah, dude, totally! Here, I'll help you show how legal it is!
Celestine: Cool beans, I'm outta here.
Boniface: Hmm, guess I need to be pope now. Fiiiine, I'll do it!
Cardinals: *chase Celestine down again and put him under house arrest so there won't be a chance of schism*
The papal history rocks, y'all.