What lessons did readers take from the Espill (The Mirror)?
This book examines key marginalia in sixteenth-century printed copies of the fictional, pedagogic tale about the alleged dangers of earthly women composed by Valencian physician Jaume Roig. Written in Catalan verse in approximately 1460, the Espill focuses on two main themes, misogyny and religious material, including the critique of religious personnel but also absolute praise of the Virgin Mary. More than 50 printed copies of the work exist today, an extraordinary number for the period.
The book argues that readers seemed to interpret contrasting secular misogyny and holy topics as harmonious, with the Espill's misogyny synchronizing with its religious message and materials. Readers appear to have considered the Espill as a guide, whether with regard to biblical stories and lessons, women's menstruation, or women's shameful character, and did not demonstrate outrage or perplexity about women's portrayal. The annotative evidence, previously overlooked, sheds light on misogyny's relationship to larger systems of power and on the broader connection between women's depiction in the Espill and in Isabel de Villena's proto-feminist Vita Christi, both of which derived from Valencia's same late fifteenth-century social and professional milieu.
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What lessons did readers take from the Espill (The Mirror)?
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Historical and Critical Context
2. The Espill's Sixteenth-Century Editions and Printed Copies
3. Readers Reading the Espill
4. The Larger Gloss: Reading the Espill and the Vita Christi
Conclusion: Seven Theses
Bibliography
Index
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781855664166
Publisert
2025-06-17
Utgiver
Boydell & Brewer Ltd; Tamesis Books
Vekt
666 gr
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Forfatter