Medieval Genders and Sexualities in Europe: Construction, Transformation, and Subversion, 600–1530

With a specific focus on the themes of construction, subversion and transformation, this collection of essays makes an innovative contribution to the study of genders and sexual identity in the Middle Ages.

Scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds deal with the presentation or transformation of gender, third-gender, and the relationship between gender and sexual identity in fields such as literature, hagiography, and art history, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the early sixteenth century. The contributors offer in-depth analyses on specific subjects—including French romance literature, saints’ vitae, Italian visual cultures, and manuscript studies—as well as providing food for thought for scholars outside medieval studies who are interested in the themes of gender transformation and presentation.

Engaging with current academic debates over the complexities and pluralities of gender identity in the Middle Ages, this volume is one of the first collections to show how the themes of gender construction and transformation can be applied over a wide range of fields.