Dreaming in the Middle Ages [Paperback]

Stephen Kruger considers previously neglected material and arrives at a new understanding of this literary genre, and of medieval attitudes to dreaming in general.This wide-ranging study examines the role of the dream in medieval culture with reference to philosophical, legal and theological writings as well as literary and autobiographical works.This wide-ranging study examines the role of the dream in medieval culture with reference to philosophical, legal and theological writings as well as literary and autobiographical works.This wide-ranging study examines the role of the dream in medieval culture with reference to philosophical, legal and theological writings as well as literary and autobiographical works. Stephen Kruger studies the development of theories of dreaming, from the Neoplatonic and patristic writers to late medieval re-interpretations, and shows how these theories relate to autobiographical accounts and to more popular treatments of dreaming. He considers previously neglected material including one important dream vision by Nicole Oresme, and arrives at a new understanding of this literary genre, and of medieval attitudes to dreaming in general.Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Introduction: modern and medieval dreams; 1. Dreambooks and their audiences; 2. The doubleness and middleness of dreams; 3. The patristic dream; 4. From the fourth to the twelfth century; 5. Aristotle and the late-medieval dream; 6. Dreams and fiction; 7. Dreams and life; Notes; Bibliography; Index.