Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 6989
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Purdie , Rhiannon
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Sexing the Manuscript: The Case for Female Ownership of MS Chetham 8009
  • Source: Neophilologus 82, 1 (January 1998): Pages 139 - 148.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Hagiography Handbooks Manuscripts, Ownership of Readers Romance, Literary Genre
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 15
  • Primary Evidence: Manuscript; Oxford, MS Chetham 8009. Late fifteenth century paper manuscript. A miscellany of fourteen items.
  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract: This paper will examine the evidence for the ownership of the anonymous fifteenth-century compilation known as MS Chetham 8009. Although there is no external evidence for the manuscript's history or ownership, this paper argues that its selection of texts, their arrangement, and their apparent preoccupations indicate that it was probably compiled by or for a woman. The texts involved are four female saints' lives, three romances, two texts often used for educational purposes, one text of more general "courtly" material, and some filler-items. The significance of each of these genres for medieval women readers is discussed in turn, as well as that of the themes which emerge upon viewing the collection as a whole. It is hoped that this study will provide a useful test-case for scholars working on the background of other similarly "anonymous" medieval manuscripts. [Reproduced from the journal page on the Springer Link website: https://link.springer.com/.]

  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: University of Bristol
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1998.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00282677