The Visions of St. Birgitta : A Study of the Making and Reception of Images in the Later Middle Ages
Oen, Maria Husabø LU
(2015)
- Abstract
- Visions, or revelations, played an enormously important role in late medieval society. So much so that the question what constituted an authentic vision was debated at the highest ecclesiastical levels. Furthermore, the majority of visionaries in this period were women, and visions afforded them with unique opportunities to exercise their abilities in contexts otherwise almost exclusively reserved for men. Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, are examples of medieval women known for their active political roles, their literary production and their re-interpretation of scriptural motifs and religious ideals. Common to all is that they asserted themselves on the basis of visions they claimed to receive directly from God.... (More)
- Visions, or revelations, played an enormously important role in late medieval society. So much so that the question what constituted an authentic vision was debated at the highest ecclesiastical levels. Furthermore, the majority of visionaries in this period were women, and visions afforded them with unique opportunities to exercise their abilities in contexts otherwise almost exclusively reserved for men. Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, are examples of medieval women known for their active political roles, their literary production and their re-interpretation of scriptural motifs and religious ideals. Common to all is that they asserted themselves on the basis of visions they claimed to receive directly from God. With a particular emphasis on the lay visionary culture of the period, and with the case of St. Birgitta of Sweden serving as focal point, this dissertation seeks to shed light on the complex phenomenon of visions in the Middle Ages.
The dissertation suggests that a key medieval thought about visions, and a modern theory of images, combine to provide a unified framework within which to study them. The thought – common to all medieval authors – is that an authentic vision was, quite literally, something seen. The modern theory in question is Hans Belting’s anthropological theory of images and the various media in which they may be embodied. By approaching medieval visions as images, i.e. as abstract objects which are realized in different media, the dissertation argues that a study of visions is, ultimately, an exploration of different ways of making, receiving and comprehending images. Its four main chapters explore the relationship between material images and visions; the vision text as a medium; late medieval notions of perception and materiality as they pertain to visions; and, finally, the visionary’s own body as a significant medium for visions.
(Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Visions, or revelations, played an enormously important role in late medieval society. So much so that the question what constituted an authentic vision was debated at the highest ecclesiastical levels. Furthermore, the majority of visionaries in this period were women, and visions afforded them with unique opportunities to exercise their abilities in contexts otherwise almost exclusively reserved for men. Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, are examples of medieval women known for their active political roles, their literary production and their re-interpretation of scriptural motifs and religious ideals. Common to all is that they asserted themselves on the basis of visions they claimed to receive directly from God.... (More)
- Visions, or revelations, played an enormously important role in late medieval society. So much so that the question what constituted an authentic vision was debated at the highest ecclesiastical levels. Furthermore, the majority of visionaries in this period were women, and visions afforded them with unique opportunities to exercise their abilities in contexts otherwise almost exclusively reserved for men. Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, are examples of medieval women known for their active political roles, their literary production and their re-interpretation of scriptural motifs and religious ideals. Common to all is that they asserted themselves on the basis of visions they claimed to receive directly from God. With a particular emphasis on the lay visionary culture of the period, and with the case of St. Birgitta of Sweden serving as focal point, this dissertation seeks to shed light on the complex phenomenon of visions in the Middle Ages.
The dissertation suggests that a key medieval thought about visions, and a modern theory of images, combine to provide a unified framework within which to study them. The thought – common to all medieval authors – is that an authentic vision was, quite literally, something seen. The modern theory in question is Hans Belting’s anthropological theory of images and the various media in which they may be embodied.
By approaching medieval visions as images, i.e. as abstract objects which are realized in different media, the dissertation argues that a study of visions is, ultimately, an exploration of different ways of making, receiving and comprehending images. Its four main chapters explore the relationship between material images and visions; the vision text as a medium; late medieval notions of perception and materiality as they pertain to visions; and, finally, the visionary’s own body as a significant medium for visions.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/f7db58a9-0f7b-40d2-8616-138cf041005a
- author
- Oen, Maria Husabø
LU
- supervisor
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- unpublished
- subject
- pages
- 283 pages
- publisher
- University of Oslo, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- f7db58a9-0f7b-40d2-8616-138cf041005a
- date added to LUP
- 2024-02-14 13:28:16
- date last changed
- 2024-03-25 11:28:36
@phdthesis{f7db58a9-0f7b-40d2-8616-138cf041005a,
abstract = {{Visions, or revelations, played an enormously important role in late medieval society. So much so that the question what constituted an authentic vision was debated at the highest ecclesiastical levels. Furthermore, the majority of visionaries in this period were women, and visions afforded them with unique opportunities to exercise their abilities in contexts otherwise almost exclusively reserved for men. Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, are examples of medieval women known for their active political roles, their literary production and their re-interpretation of scriptural motifs and religious ideals. Common to all is that they asserted themselves on the basis of visions they claimed to receive directly from God. With a particular emphasis on the lay visionary culture of the period, and with the case of St. Birgitta of Sweden serving as focal point, this dissertation seeks to shed light on the complex phenomenon of visions in the Middle Ages. <br/><br/>The dissertation suggests that a key medieval thought about visions, and a modern theory of images, combine to provide a unified framework within which to study them. The thought – common to all medieval authors – is that an authentic vision was, quite literally, something seen. The modern theory in question is Hans Belting’s anthropological theory of images and the various media in which they may be embodied. By approaching medieval visions as images, i.e. as abstract objects which are realized in different media, the dissertation argues that a study of visions is, ultimately, an exploration of different ways of making, receiving and comprehending images. Its four main chapters explore the relationship between material images and visions; the vision text as a medium; late medieval notions of perception and materiality as they pertain to visions; and, finally, the visionary’s own body as a significant medium for visions.<br/>}},
author = {{Oen, Maria Husabø}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{University of Oslo, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas}},
title = {{The Visions of St. Birgitta : A Study of the Making and Reception of Images in the Later Middle Ages}},
year = {{2015}},
}