David Hawkes

Richard G. Newhauser

Nathaniel Bump

Some modern commentators welcome the alleged approach of the 'post-human' era as a liberation from the constraints of essentialist identity. Others lament it as a harbinger of the death of the soul. But both groups will find it instructive to consider that the nature of humanity has always been a contested topic. The chapters collected here suggest that the emergence of the modern idea of the human was at least as fraught a process as its putative demise. David Hawkes and Richard G. Newhauser have selected a wide array of contributions for this volume. Renowned scholars from several disciplines have produced a series of fascinating essays, which concentrate on the relation between humanity and nature as it was understood in the medieval and early modern periods. The issues they examine range from poaching to flatulence, from Aztec animal symbolism to Jesus's grandmother, from tulips to the Trinity. Some chapters examine a wide variety of popular texts, from the bloody legend of Robert the Devil to the sinister magic of the Anglo-Saxon 'wen charm, ' from Lutheran Books of Nature to Emperor Maximillian's wedding.The result is a book that raises intriguing implications for the modern struggle over the meaning of mankind.

The Book of Nature and Humanity in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

Understanding the senses is indispensable for comprehending the Middle Ages because both a theoretical and a practical involvement with the senses played a central role in the development of ideology and cultural practice in this period. For the long medieval millennium, the senses were not limited to the five we think of: speech, for example, was categorized among the senses of the mouth. And sight and hearing were not always the dominant senses: for the medical profession, taste was more decisive. Nor were the senses only passive receptors: they were understood to play an active role in the process of perception and were also a vital element in the formation of each individual's moral identity. From the development of specifically urban or commercial sensations to the sensory regimes of holiness, from the senses as indicators of social status revealed in food to the Scholastic analysis of perception, this volume demonstrates the importance of sensory experience and its manifold interpretations in the Middle Ages. A Cultural History of the Senses in the Middle Ages presents essays on the following topics: the social life of the senses; urban sensations; the senses in the marketplace; the senses in religion; the senses in philosophy and science; medicine and the senses; the senses in literature; art and the senses; and sensory media.

A Cultural History of the Senses in the Middle Ages

Everlasting Love When Elizabeth regains her memories of her past lives, Meliodas can no longer conceal the details of the curse that binds them together. In order to break the curse and save Elizabeth, Meliodas and The Sins set out to confront The Ten Commandments. But when an old enemy rises once again, will the comrades be able to weather the onslaught?

The Seven Deadly Sins 28

Richard Newhauser

Susan Janet Ridyard

A fresh consideration of the enduring tradition of the Seven Deadly Sins, showing its continuing post-medieval influence.

Richard G. Newhauser

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