Gender and Sexuality Studies

Abstract

Gender is, as we all know, a social category, not a biological one. Contrary to many expectations, in the pre-modern period, numerous women were able to turn into powerful poets and made their voices heard. Those were both religious/mystical writers (Hildegard of Bingen) and secular poets (Marie de France). This paper introduces an entire cohort of highly self-conscious and influential female writers from across Europe who managed to carve out a niche in literature for their own purposes, and this quite contrary to common notions in modern perceptions.

Biography

ALBRECHT CLASSEN received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1986. He has a broad range of research interests covering the history of German and European literature from about 800 to 1600. He has currently published 132 books and well over 800 articles dealing with comparative issues, gender topics, environmental concerns, and cultural historical themes. Most recently appeared Prostitution in Medieval and Early Modern Literature (2021), Charlemagne in Medieval German and Dutch Literature (2021), Tracing the Trails in the Medieval World (2021), Wisdom from the European Middle Ages (2022), The Secret in Medieval Literature (2022), Globalism in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age (ed., 2023), and Der Niederrheinische Orientbericht, c. 1350 (trans., 2024). A new book on court criticism and of evil kings in medieval literature appeared in 2024. In 2017, he received the rank of Grand Knight Commander of the Most Noble Order of the Three Lions.