The Claims of Poverty

Kate Crassons

Description

In The Claims of Poverty, Kate Crassons explores a widespread ideological crisis concerning poverty that emerged in the aftermath of the plague in late medieval England. She identifies poverty as a central preoccupation in texts ranging from Piers Plowman and Wycliffite writings to The Book of Margery Kempe and the York cycle plays. Crassons shows that these and other works form a complex body of writing in which poets, dramatists, and preachers anxiously wrestled with the status of poverty as a force that is at once a sacred imitation of Christ and a social stigma; a voluntary form of life and an unwelcome hardship; an economic reality and a spiritual disposition.

Crassons argues that literary texts significantly influenced the cultural conversation about poverty, deepening our understanding of its urgency as a social, economic, and religious issue. These texts not only record debates about the nature of poverty as a form of either vice or virtue, but explore epistemological and ethical aspects of the debates. When faced with a claim of poverty, people effectively become readers interpreting the signs of need in the body and speech of their fellow human beings. The literary and dramatic texts of late medieval England embodied the complexity of such interaction with particular acuteness, revealing the ethical stakes of interpretation as an act with direct material consequences. As The Claims of Poverty demonstrates, medieval literature shaped perceptions about who is defined as "poor," and in so doing it emerged as a powerful cultural force that promoted competing models of community, sanctity, and justice.

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• Medieval
• HISTORY
• Idioma inglés
• Pedro el Labrador
• Idioma galés
• Edad Media
• Piers Plowman
• Middle Ages
• Irish
• English
• Great Britain
• European
• Welsh
• Scottish
• Musique irlandaise
• Anglais
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 30 avril 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268076870
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

T H E C L A I M S o f P O V E R T Y  L I T E R A T U R E , C U L T U R E , A N D I D E O L O G Y I N L A T E M E D I E V A L E N G L A N D

K a t e C r a s s o n s

T H E C L A I M S

o f

P O V E R T Y

The figures of Waster (left) and Hunger fromPiers Plowman, MS Douce 104, fols. 37v and 38r. Reproduced with the permission of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

T H E C L A I M S

o f

P O V E R T Y

Literature, Culture, and Ideology

in Late Medieval England

K A T E C R A S S O N S

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

Copyright © 2010 by University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu

All Rights Reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crassons, Kate. The claims of poverty : literature, culture, and ideology in late medieval England / Kate Crassons. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-268-02302-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-268-02302-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. English literature--Middle English, 1100–1500—History and criticism. 2. Poverty in literature. 3. Social problems in literature. 4. Ideology in literature. 5. Civilization, Medieval, in literature. 6. Literature and society—England— History—To 1500. 7. England—Social conditions—1066–1485. 8. Poverty— England—History—To 1500. 9. Poverty—Religious aspects—Christianity—History of doctrines—Middle Ages, 600–1500. I. Title. PR275.S63C73 2010 820.9'3556--dc22 2010007655

∞The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

For David Mayer

C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

C H A P T E R O N E Forms of Need: The Allegorical Representation of Poverty inPiers Plowman21

C H A P T E R T W O Poverty Exposed: The Evangelical and Epistemological Ideal ofPierce the Ploughman’s Crede89

C H A P T E R T H R E E “Clamerous” Beggars and “Nedi” Knights: Poverty and Wycliffite Reform 139

C H A P T E R F O U R The Costs of Sanctity: Margery Kempe and the Franciscan Imaginary 177

C H A P T E R F I V E Communal Identities: Performing Poverty, Charity, and Labor in York’s Corpus Christi Theater 221

E P I L O G U E Nickel and Dimed: Poverty Polemic Medieval and Modern

Notes 296 Works Cited 357 Index 373

275

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

In writing a book on poverty, I have accrued many debts, yet these are a sign of my great fortune in having so many people who have offered help along the way. I owe tremendous thanks to my teachers, whose wisdom and guidance have been nothing short of inspiring. Bruce Hol- singer and Beth Robertson first introduced me to the fascinating world of medieval literature. It was Beth in particular who inspired me to be- come a medievalist, and her thoughtfulness and curiosity as a scholar are qualities that I hope to emulate in my own work. Judith Bennett offered supremely knowledgeable advice about this particular project and aca- demic life more generally. Sarah Beckwith often seemed to recognize dimensions of my work that I had yet fully to grasp, and I am incredibly grateful for her perceptive readings. Sarah’s patience, generosity, and willingness to push me have made this book far richer than it otherwise would have been. My greatest thanks goes to David Aers who supervised this project from its beginning as a dissertation at Duke University and who contin- ued to offer indispensible guidance with amazing efficiency and thor- oughness. I am deeply thankful for his friendship along with that of his wife, Christine Derham. Without David’s great knowledge and kindness, this book would not have been possible. And if I can pass on to my stu- dents a fraction of what I’ve learned from him, I will consider myself a successful teacher. I’ve also benefitted from the generosity of other scholars and friends. The anonymous readers for the University of Notre Dame press provided invaluable criticism of the manuscript. Barbara Hanrahan shepherded this project through the publication process with great care and attention. I also appreciate Matt Dowd’s meticulous editorial work. Fiona Somerset

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