Medieval Virginities

Virgins and virginity are frequently referred to in late medieval culture and in particular in historical, medical, legal and hagiographical literature. Whilst virginity can often become linked with chastity, it can be both a permanent and temporary state within the lifecycle, and remains no less ambiguous and elusive to definition. This collection of twelve essays takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject of the manifestation of virginity in the late medieval period. Subjects explored include virginity referred to in law, Welsh prose, clerical perceptions, the virginal portrayal of Edward the Confessor, erotic mysticism, alchemy, the virgin martyr and Joan of Arc.

Anke Bernau is an associate lecturer in English literature at the University of Cardiff. Sarah Salih is a lecturer in English literature at the University of East Anglia and the author of Holiness and Gender, Versions of Virginity in Late Medieval England, and Performing Virginity: Sex and Violence in the Katherine Group. Ruth Evans is a senior lecturer in English literature at the University of Cardiff and the author of The Idea of the Vernacular, Simone de Beauvoir's the Second Sex: New Interdisciplinary Essays, The Medieval Translator, and Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature.