Description
Book SynopsisAn examination of typology about place in relation to the Virgin Mary. This book takes a fresh look at some of the seemingly tired images of the Virgin Mary across the medieval and early Golden Age period in Hispanic literatures. It explores the Virgin as a gateway and as a Temple, as a garden and asa fountain, as a scented space, and as a strong defensive place (fortress or castle wall). It also explores her as a home and as a nuptial bedchamber, and sets these images in the context of known liturgical usage in medieval andearly modern Spain. LESLEY TWOMEY is Professor of Medieval and Golden Age Art and Literature at Northumbria University. She is the author of several books about peninsular Marian literature.
Trade ReviewTwomey's readings are illuminating as commentaries on the works under scrutiny and as examples of a creative methodology, an approach that interprets space as a medium of characterization. * CHOICE *
The study's strong suit is the broadly-based comparative analysis of themes, symbols, and imagery associated with the Virgin Mary in a wide range of sources that enriches our understanding of standard poetic representations. Twomey's range expands our canonical concept of medieval literature and makes clear the importance of reading the literature that we know from critical editions in a much wider context of writing from the Middle Ages. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Sacred Spaces and Places: Constructing the Virgin Mary in Hispanic Literature A Feast of Miracles: Foreign Places, Foreign Spaces in Hispanic Miracle Collections Hortus conclusus?: Virginity and Fruitful Space in Gonzalo de Berceo's Los Milagros de Nuestra Señora Holding and Reflecting the Water of Life in Gonzalo de Berceo's 'fuent': Wellsprings and Fountains as a Figure of the Virgin Fountains and their Architecture: Situating Fountains in the Poetry of the Marqués de Santillana and Other Fifteenth-Century Poets The Temple Gate, the Lions' Den, and the Furnace: Liminal Space in Gonzalo de Berceo's Marian Poetry Re-evaluating the Temple of God, the Tabernacle, the Ark, and the Reliquary in Late-Medieval Poetry Home is where the Heart is: Christ's Dwelling-Place from Gonzalo de Berceo's Loores de Nuestra Señora to the Vita Christi of Isabel de Villena Mary as a Strong Defence: the Protective Space of the Virgin Mary from Alfonso X's Cantigas de Santa Maria to Jaume Roig's Siege Engine 'Más olías que ambargris': Perfumed Spaces and the Virgin in Fray Ambrosio Montesino's Poetry Afterword Appendix: Marian Hymns in Hispanic Liturgies Bibliography Index
