Men, Marriage, and the Family in the Middle Ages

CALL FOR PAPERS, Kalamazoo 2010 - please don't hesitate to
circulate, and sorry
for cross-listing.

Session: Men, Marriage, and the Family in the Middle Ages

The literature on women in the domestic sphere, as wives, mothers, daughters,
and in work, has contributed significantly to our understanding of the Middle
Ages. Thanks to this body of research we have not only gained insight into
everyday lives, but now also have more nuanced views of for example
power, law,
religion, piety, and society.

More and more scholars have begun to ask, what could we learn if we
applied the
methods and questions we have so fruitfully used in studying women to
the study
of men? Questions about agency, identity, patriarchy and the everyday
experiences of men are relatively new, and they are yielding fascinating
studies of men as part of social groups and in familial roles, as well as
contributing to our understanding of the Middle Ages. Men were, of course,
members of the family, and of medieval society as well as of the patriarchal
systems of Church and secular rule. How did men qua men navigate the religious
and social institution of marriage and the roles, rights and responsibilities
the family placed on them as fathers, husbands, brothers sons, or even uncles?

For this session we invite scholars studying men within the myriad
frameworks of
marriage and family to come together to further explore the field and thus
contribute to the discussion, as well as increase all our knowledge of the
cultures and societies of the Middle Ages.

To submit an abstract or for more questions, please e-mail:
marita.vonweissenberg@yale.edu.

Organizers: Grace Philip (Grand Valley State University)
Marita von Weissenberg (Yale University)