¶ … Women: Luther and the Medieval Roman Catholic Church
The medieval view of women and the woman's role was essentially informed by a centuries-long, Christian informed tradition, upheld by patriarchal society. Thus, that there should exist a vast discrepancy between the views of Luther and the views of the medieval Roman Catholic Church regarding women is to perhaps wish too much. Modern feminism may be, to some extent, found in the works of Chaucer, whose Wife of Bath represents a departure from "acceptable" womanhood in the medieval world. But even a century and a half later not much has changed on this front. Luther's animus towards the Catholic Church was mainly doctrine and practice-centered. Luther had a conception of the faith that differed and evolved significantly as the Protestant Reformation got underway. Nonetheless, there can be found teachings by both Luther and the Catholic Church that can be compared for a better understanding of how said teaching influenced society and provided for a legacy that still exists in Western culture. This paper will examine these teachings and compare and contrast them.
The "nature of women" was a hot topic in the 16th century, a time when all long-standing traditions were coming under the microscope, so to speak.[footnoteRef:1] Luther's opinion on the subject can be found "in every genre of his works: Biblical commentary, sermons, polemical tracts, the Bible translation, lectures, letters, and the table talk."[footnoteRef:2] Similarly, the view of the Catholic Church may also be found...
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001648096 Goldberg, Jeremy. "Girls Growing Up in Later Medieval England." History Today, June 1995, 25+. http://www.questia.com/. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27843659 Herlihy, David. Women, Family, and Society in Medieval Europe: Historical Essays, 1978-1991. Edited by a. Molho. Providence, RI: Berghahn Books, 1995. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001272076 Purkiss, Diane. "The Case for Women in Medieval Culture." Medium Aevum 68, no. 1 (1999): 106. http://www.questia.com/. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14413469 Richards, Earl Jeffrey. "Seulette a Part -- the Little WomanOn
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