With contributions on topics ranging from medieval gynecology to clerical masculinity, this interdisciplinary collection highlights the various ways “status” can be interpreted relative to gender, and what these two interlocked concepts can reveal about the construction of gendered identities in the Middle Ages.

Introduction: Gender and Status in the Medieval World Katherine Weikert and Elena Woodacre Chapter 1. Mirrors for Margraves: Peter Damian’s Models for Male and Female Rulers Alison Creber Chapter 2. Inaudito Exemplo: The Abduction of Romsey’s Abbess Linda D. Brown Chapter 3. The Corpus Christi Devotion: Gender, Liturgy, and Authority among Dominican Nuns in Castile in the Middle Ages Mercedes Pérez Vidal Chapter 4. From Villainous Letch and Sinful Outcast, to “Especially Beloved of God”: Complicating the Medieval Leper through Gender and Social Status Christina Welch and Rohan Brown Chapter 5. “To Take a Wyf”: Marriage, Status, and Moral Conduct in “The Merchant’s Tale” Natalie Hanna Chapter 6. Objectification, Empowerment, and the Male Gaze in the Lanval Corpus Elizabeth S. Leet Chapter 7. Pueri Sunt Pueri: Machismo, Chivalry, and the Aggressive Pastimes of the Medieval Male Youth Sean McGlynn Chapter 8. “And Much More I am Soryat for My Good Knyghts”: Fainting, Homosociality, and Elite Male Culture in Middle English Romance Rachel E. Moss Chapter 9. Wrist Clasps and Patriliny: A Hypothesis Frank Battaglia