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Foreword

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2013

E. A. Jones
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
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Summary

When Marion Glasscoe organised the first Exeter Symposium in 1980, study of the medieval mystical tradition was (at best) a marginal pursuit, whether one's vantage point was the field of literary studies, history or theology. What Marion realised was that the liminal nature of the ‘Mystics’ both demanded a broad-based interdisciplinary approach (of the sort that she was, at the same time, building into her undergraduate teaching at the University of Exeter) and enabled them to act as a conduit for the different disciplines to talk to each other.

That first Symposium brought together scholars from Britain, Europe and the United States; literary, historical, theological and psychological approaches to the texts; established and new names. It paid full attention to the five ‘Middle English Mystics’ (Hilton, Rolle, Julian (two papers), Kempe, and – though there was no paper devoted solely to his works – the Cloud-author), but also tested the boundaries of the received canon, and particularly those between mystical and other sorts of writing (Langland, homiletic literature, religious drama). For those of us who were not in Exeter in 1980, the papers read at the Symposium were published in the series Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies immediately afterwards, so that their work of stimulating further research could both begin at once, and continue to influence future generations of scholars.

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The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England
Papers Read at Charney Manor, July 2004 [Exeter Symposium VII]
, pp. ix - x
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Foreword
  • Edited by E. A. Jones, University of Exeter
  • Book: The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
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  • Foreword
  • Edited by E. A. Jones, University of Exeter
  • Book: The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Foreword
  • Edited by E. A. Jones, University of Exeter
  • Book: The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
Available formats
×