The Medieval Devil: A Reader ed. by Richard Raiswell, David R. Winter (review)
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
Reviewed by: The Medieval Devil: A Reader ed. by Richard Raiswell, David R. Winter Arina Zaytseva Key Words Middle Ages, devil, demonology, demonic possession, Hell, apocrypha, Church Fathers richard raiswell, david r. winter, eds. The Medieval Devil: A Reader. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2023. Pp. 424. The Medieval Devil: A Reader is a welcome addition to the long-running line of collections of primary sources published under the auspices of the Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures series at by the University of Toronto. Edited by historians Richard Raiswell and David R. Winter, this volume is a product of decades of teaching on the history of the Devil— most of the texts included in the volume were test-driven in classes held by such acclaimed historians as Gary Waite, Michelle Brock, Megan Lane MacDonald, Luke Baird, Maggie McEwen, as well as by Professors Raiswell and Winter themselves (xi). The aim of this volume is to provide “a new look at the development of medieval society by analyzing how the men and women of the period constructed its antithesis,” (xiii) i.e., the Devil. With a wealth of carefully selected texts hailing from different time periods and places and covering a variety of topics, the editors attempt to problematize and complicate the ongoing conversation on the image of the Devil, arguably the most popular, yet elusive, figure of Christian history. The Devil, in his manifold manifestations, from terrifying to comical, is an empty vessel to be filled with meaning and significance, in accordance with changing political, social, and personal beliefs. In the words of Raiswell and Winter, “his identity and potency at any particular historical instance were as much a function of the projection of communal tensions and anxieties as . . . of the musings of theologians and canonists” (xiii). The Medieval Devil: A Reader is divided into eleven thematic blocks, or chapters. The division is somewhat arbitrary, since some chapters follow major thematic topics in the development of the narrative about the Devil and his attributes, while others follow the chronology of such developments. Among the chapters dedicated to particular time periods in the development of demonological narratives are, for example, Chapter 2, “Development of a Narrative,” focused predominantly on biblical narratives, apocryphal texts, and the texts of early Church Fathers; Chapter 3, “Forging a Community,” which includes excerpts from early theologians; Chapter 4, “The Early Monastic Devil”; and Chapter 11, “Toward the Early Modern Age.” Other chapters are organized thematically and include texts pertaining to recurring demonological concepts, such as demonic possession (Chapter 7), the image of Hell (Chapter 6), demonization of the Other (Chapter 8), etc. This seemingly patchwork organization of contents reflects the multifaceted nature of the Devil’s image. Indeed, the major strength of this collection lies in its variety. The editors include a wide array of sources, from classical demonological accounts of [End Page 148] Tertullian, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Athanasius of Alexandria, Pope Gregory I, and others, to excerpts from more obscure works, such as the apocryphal Testament of Solomon, the Old English medical text, Leechbook III, and a peculiar legal manual, Satan’s Case Against the Divine Virgin before Judge Jesus. This collection does not shun incendiary texts, either (it includes, for example, an excerpt from the infamous Tultu sceptrum, a raunchy late medieval fabliau, and Peter Damian’s vitriolic attack on clerical sodomy, among other texts), touching upon dark and taboo topics connected to the image of the Devil. The editors tactfully comment on the shocking nature of some of the texts, while explaining that it is impossible to understand the hold the Devil had on popular and learned imagination without accounting for the powerful emotional and psychological effect his figure had on various communities (xvi). Fortunately, I had a chance to use this book in class. When I received the reader in Spring 2023, I was about to start teaching my first undergraduate course on the history of the Devil in Christianity. Not only did I get to read this wonderful collection, but I also had an opportunity to test it out during seminar discussions with a small group of first-year students, none of whom, save one, were humanities majors. The...
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Comment cette classification a été obtenuedéplier
Prédiction machine sur la base complète
Imitation des enseignantsNi prévalence calibrée, ni vérité terrain. Validation humaine à venir. Le volet Gemma est une étiquette directe du modèle pour chaque travail de la base, lue sur la notice réduite au titre. Le volet Codex est un classifieur appris des 10 348 étiquettes directes de Codex et calibré sur les taux pondérés de l'échantillon; les champs sans appui suffisant ne portent aucun appel Codex. Le mode candidate est l'union des deux volets; le consensus est leur intersection. Ces sorties portent le statut machine_predicted_unvalidated et ne sont pas des étiquettes humaines.
Scores du classifieur distillé par catégorie (deux têtes)
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,001 | 0,004 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,002 | 0,001 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,002 | 0,001 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,002 | 0,004 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Communication savante | 0,003 | 0,004 |
| Science ouverte | 0,002 | 0,002 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,002 | 0,005 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,024 | 0,015 |
Scores machine (provisoires)
Les deux têtes enseignantes du modèle étudiant, lues sur ce travail. Un score ordonne la base pour la relecture; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie, et le statut de validation accompagne chaque rangée tel quel.
Scores de référence d'un modèle non mature (critères de maturité non atteints, 7 itérations). Un score ordonne; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · tel quel depuis la passe de notation : score_only signifie que le nombre peut ordonner les travaux, et qu'aucune étiquette de catégorie n'en découleClassification
machine, non validéePrédiction automatique; un appel candidat d’une seule source (Gemma direct ou Codex distillé), pas un consensus.
Le détail, modèle par modèle et score par score, se trouve en fin de page sous « Comment cette classification a été obtenue ».