New Directions in Medieval Mystical and Devotional Literature honors the career and scholarship of Denise N. Baker. Contributors include both early career and established scholars, and the collected essays examine a broad range of medieval mystical and religious literature, such as the writings of Julian of Norwich and William Langland.

In pursuing how fourteenth-century English texts engage with philosophical, intellectual, and theological questions, the work of Denise N. Baker has powerfully shaped the field of medieval studies. This collection honors Baker’s legacy as a scholar and teacher by taking a fresh approach to the most salient literary, mystical, and devotional works written in late medieval England. The contributors examine a variety of foundational texts ranging from Piers Plowman and The Canterbury Tales to The Cloud of Unknowing and Julian of Norwich’s Showings. Their analyses offer new insights into medieval literature and culture by examining the intricacies of vice and virtue, the connections between gender and literary form, and the ethical potential of social formations. Additionally, the volume attests to the wider influence of fourteenth-century literature. Not only do the contributors explore how medieval writers make their own claims of memorialization, but they also analyze later iterations of Middle English writing in the context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century print culture. Featuring chapters by both early scholars and those at the later stages of their careers, this volume celebrates the impact of Baker’s scholarship over the past four decades. At the same time, this book offers an incisive inquiry into many of the most debated issues and texts in studies of late medieval England.

IntroductionAmy N. Vines

List of Denise N. Baker’s Publications

Chapter 1“‘What is Synne?’: Exploring Julian of Norwich’s Question”

David Aers

Chapter 2“The Coveting of ‘Muche’ Instead of ‘Measure’: The Connection between Lady Mede and Nede in the C-Text of Piers Plowman”

Jessica D. Ward

Chapter 3“The ‘Stalke’ and the ‘Balke’: Cherry Picking the Ethics of Reproof in The Canterbury Tales”

Edwin Craun

Chapter 4“From ‘Pore Pacient’ to ‘Childische Thyng’: Versions of the Life of Charity in Piers Plowman C.XV-XVII”

Grace Hamman

Chapter 5“Conceiving Community: Familial Trinitarian Analogies in Augustine, William Langland, and Julian Norwich”

Jessica Hines

Chapter 6“Julian of Norwich and the Cloud Author: How Could They Both be ‘Mystical Theologians’?”

Denys Turner

Chapter 7“Beatrice of Nazareth and the Desire for Death”

Jessica Barr

Chapter 8“Julian of Norwich: Lives and Afterlives”

Nancy Bradley Warren

Chapter 9“‘Heere of myn house perpetuelly a cherche’: Imagining Perpetuity in Chaucer’s Second Nun’s Tale”

Gina Hurley

Chapter 10“Chaucer and John of Gaunt: Finding a Way to Break into History”

Lynn Staley