EUR  â¬266.40EUR  â¬222.00 excl. VAT
Heads Will Roll
Decapitation in the Medieval and Early Modern Imagination
Series: - Medieval and Renaissance Authors and Texts, Volume: 7
The decapitation motif recurs in nearly all medieval and early modern genres, from saints' lives and epics to comedies and romances, yet decollation is often little regarded, save as a marker of humanity (that is, as the moment mortality exits) or inhumanity (that is, as the moment the supernatural enters). However, as a seat of reason, wisdom, and even the soul, the head has long been afforded a special place in the body politic, even when separated from its body proper. Capitalizing upon the enduring fascination with decapitation in European culture, this collection examines--through a variety of critical lenses--the recurring "roles/rolls" of severed human heads in the medieval and early modern imagination.
Contributors are Nicola Masciandaro, Mark Faulkner, Jay Paul Gates, Christine Cooper-Rompato, Dwayne Coleman, Mary Leech, Tina Boyer, Renée Ward, Andrew Fleck, Thomas Herron, Thea Cervone, and Asa Simon Mittman. Preface by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen.
Contributors are Nicola Masciandaro, Mark Faulkner, Jay Paul Gates, Christine Cooper-Rompato, Dwayne Coleman, Mary Leech, Tina Boyer, Renée Ward, Andrew Fleck, Thomas Herron, Thea Cervone, and Asa Simon Mittman. Preface by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen.
Larissa Tracy, Ph.D. (2000) in Medieval Literature, Trinity College, Dublin, is Associate Professor of Medieval Literature at Longwood University. She has published extensively on medieval texts with a specific focus on torture and brutality, including Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature (D.S. Brewer, 2012).
Jeff Massey, Ph.D. (2003) in English Literature (Certificate in Medieval Studies), Emory University, is Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at Molloy College. He has published variously (from Chaucer to Hardy) but voices a particular interest in literary monstrosity.
Jeff Massey, Ph.D. (2003) in English Literature (Certificate in Medieval Studies), Emory University, is Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at Molloy College. He has published variously (from Chaucer to Hardy) but voices a particular interest in literary monstrosity.
CONTENTS
Preface: Losing Your Head ........................................................................... vii
Jefffrey Jerome Cohen
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ xi
List of Illustrations .......................................................................................... xiii
List of Contributors ........................................................................................ xv
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
Larissa Tracy and Jefff Massey
Non potest hoc corpus decollari: Beheading and the Impossible ...... 15
Nicola Masciandaro
EXECUTION AND HAGIOGRAPHY
âLike a Virginâ: The Reheading of St. Edmund and Monastic
Reform in Late-Tenth-Century England ............................................. 39
Mark Faulkner
A Crowning Achievement: The Royal Execution and Damnation
of Eadric Streona ........................................................................................ 53
Jay Paul Gates
Decapitation, Martyrdom, and Late Medieval Execution Practices
in The Book of Margery Kempe .............................................................. 73
Christine F. Cooper-Rompato
CONTINENTAL NARRATIVES OF PUNISHMENT AND OTHERING
Talking Heads in Hell: Danteâs Use of Severed Heads in Inferno .... 93
Dwayne C. Coleman
Severed Silence: Social Boundaries and Family Honor in
Boccaccioâs âTale of Lisabettaâ ............................................................... 115
Mary E. Leech
The Headless Giant: The Function of Severed Heads in the
Ahistorical (Aventiurehafte) Dietrich Epics ....................................... 137
Tina Boyer
ENGLISH ROMANCE AND REALITY
âTo be a âFleschhewereâ â: Beheading, Butcher-Knights, and
Blood-Taboos in Octavian Imperator ................................................... 159
Renée Ward
The Werewolf at the Head Table: Metatheatric âsubtletyâ
in Arthur and Gorlagon ............................................................................ 183
Jefff Massey
âSo he smote of hir hede by myssefortuneâ: The Real Price of the
Beheading Game in SGGK and Malory ............................................... 207
Larissa Tracy
EARLY MODERN PRACTICE AND IMAGINATION
âAt the time of his deathâ: The Contested Narrative of Sir Walter
Raleghâs Beheading .................................................................................... 235
Andrew Fleck
âKilling swineâ and planting heads in Shakespeareâs Macbeth ......... 261
Thomas Herron
âTucked Beneath Her Armâ: Culture, Ideology, and Fantasy in the
Curious Legend of Anne Boleyn ........................................................... 289
Thea Cervone
âAnswering the Call of the Severed Headâ .............................................. 311
Asa Simon Mittman
Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 329
Index ................................................................................................................... 347
Illustrations
Preface: Losing Your Head ........................................................................... vii
Jefffrey Jerome Cohen
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ xi
List of Illustrations .......................................................................................... xiii
List of Contributors ........................................................................................ xv
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
Larissa Tracy and Jefff Massey
Non potest hoc corpus decollari: Beheading and the Impossible ...... 15
Nicola Masciandaro
EXECUTION AND HAGIOGRAPHY
âLike a Virginâ: The Reheading of St. Edmund and Monastic
Reform in Late-Tenth-Century England ............................................. 39
Mark Faulkner
A Crowning Achievement: The Royal Execution and Damnation
of Eadric Streona ........................................................................................ 53
Jay Paul Gates
Decapitation, Martyrdom, and Late Medieval Execution Practices
in The Book of Margery Kempe .............................................................. 73
Christine F. Cooper-Rompato
CONTINENTAL NARRATIVES OF PUNISHMENT AND OTHERING
Talking Heads in Hell: Danteâs Use of Severed Heads in Inferno .... 93
Dwayne C. Coleman
Severed Silence: Social Boundaries and Family Honor in
Boccaccioâs âTale of Lisabettaâ ............................................................... 115
Mary E. Leech
The Headless Giant: The Function of Severed Heads in the
Ahistorical (Aventiurehafte) Dietrich Epics ....................................... 137
Tina Boyer
ENGLISH ROMANCE AND REALITY
âTo be a âFleschhewereâ â: Beheading, Butcher-Knights, and
Blood-Taboos in Octavian Imperator ................................................... 159
Renée Ward
The Werewolf at the Head Table: Metatheatric âsubtletyâ
in Arthur and Gorlagon ............................................................................ 183
Jefff Massey
âSo he smote of hir hede by myssefortuneâ: The Real Price of the
Beheading Game in SGGK and Malory ............................................... 207
Larissa Tracy
EARLY MODERN PRACTICE AND IMAGINATION
âAt the time of his deathâ: The Contested Narrative of Sir Walter
Raleghâs Beheading .................................................................................... 235
Andrew Fleck
âKilling swineâ and planting heads in Shakespeareâs Macbeth ......... 261
Thomas Herron
âTucked Beneath Her Armâ: Culture, Ideology, and Fantasy in the
Curious Legend of Anne Boleyn ........................................................... 289
Thea Cervone
âAnswering the Call of the Severed Headâ .............................................. 311
Asa Simon Mittman
Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 329
Index ................................................................................................................... 347
Illustrations
All those interested in medieval and early modern literature, decapitation and brutality, law and punishment, history and art history, cultural and genre studies, hagiography and phenomenology.