Incest and the Medieval Imagination [Hardcover]

Incest was a social problem in the Middle Ages, and also a popular literary theme. This wide-ranging study is the first survey of medieval incest stories in their cultural context. Did they reflect real life situations? How was incest defined in the Middle Ages? How were classical incest stories treated by medieval writers? Why was incest such a popular motif in the legendary lives of popes and saints, and why was it inserted into the stories of great heroes such as Charlemagne and Arthur?

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and Conventions
Introduction,Dangerous Propinquity
1. Medieval Incest Law - Theory and Practice
2. The Classical Legacy
3. Mothers and Sons
4. Fathers and Daughters
Siblings and Other Relatives
Sex, Sin, and Salvation
Appendix,Synopses of Flight from Incestuous Father Stories
Bibliography
Index

Elizabeth Archibald has here compiled a wealth of information and shown the materials she has collected since 1984, when she began publishing on the subject. Her work succeeds as she aspires to a literary archaeology providing her fieldwork for the interpretations of other critical writers. --Speculum

Elizabeth Archibaldis Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol.