Gender at the Feast, Hortulus-sponsored session at 23rd International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 4–7, 2016

The roles of women and of gender in the Middle Ages have received particular attention in recent years with invigorating studies across multiple disciplines. Medieval women, such as Margery Kempe or Christina of Markyate, have been brought to the forefront in the minds of medieval scholars and questions of female agency and gender roles have been given new scholastic importance in medieval circles.

Keeping in mind the theme of the 2016 Congress, this session seeks to turn the focus of gender to the specific topic of feasts and feasting. This session will examine how gender roles and gendered objects affected the preparation, celebration, ceremony, patronage, and perception of feasting in all strata of medieval society. The session follows the theme of our Fall, 2016 issue of Hortulus, ‘Gendered Spaces’, and we hope to be able to publish in that issue some of the papers delivered in this session. As our journal mission is to support the professionalization efforts of graduate students, the session is organized, presided over, and comprises papers given by current graduate students.

Welcome topics include, but are not limited to:

• Roles of women and female religious orders at feast times.
• Gendered objects and their uses in times of celebration or feasting.
• Defining gender roles within the process of celebration.
• Gendered spaces pertaining to either the secular dining hall or the physical religious environment at feast times.