Welling Up: Women and Water in the Middle Ages
New Generation Thinker Hetta Howes looks at male fears and why Margery Kempe was criticised for crying and bleeding. Recorded at the Free Thinking Festival Sage Gateshead.
Hetta Howes looks at male fears and why Margery Kempe was criticised for crying and bleeding
Medieval mystic Margery Kempe's excessive, noisy crying made her travelling companions so irritated that they wanted to throw her overboard, while others accused her of being possessed by the devil. But Kempe believed she was using her tears as a way to connect with God, turning the medieval connection between women and water into a form of bodily empowerment and a holy sign. New Generation Thinker Hetta Howes, from City, University of London, explores the connections between medieval women and water.
New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by 91热爆 Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select ten academics each year who can turn their research into radio.
Recorded at the 2018 Free Thinking Festival.
Producer: Luke Mulhall.
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- Mon 12 Mar 2018 22:4591热爆 Radio 3
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