Holiness and masculinity in the Middle Ages

Although studies of gender in medieval culture have tended to focus on femininity, the study of medieval masculinities has developed greatly over the last few years.

This collection is the first to concentrate on this specific aspect of medieval gender studies, and looks at the ways in which varieties of medieval masculinity intersected with concepts of holiness.

Individual essays in this volume explore differing notions of medieval holiness, understood variously as religious, saintly, sacred, pure, morally perfect, and consider topics such as the significance of the tonsure, sanctity and martyrdom, eunuch saints, and the writings of Henry Suso.

The volume as a whole deals with a wide variety of texts and historical contexts, from Byzantium to Anglo-Saxon and late-medieval England.