At 04:25 AM 11/17/99 -0800, you wrote:
>
>Very interesting post. Could you possibly point to some secondary material
>which discusses this? (I don't imagine any of these works by Gerson are in
>translation?). I'm teaching a course on women, with the obligatory section
>on mysticism, and this would be indeed valuable to me. Thanks- cecilia
>gaposchkin
Aside from the excellent Gerson volume in the Classics of Western
Spirituality series, which several people have already mentioned and which
includes Gerson's letter in support of Ermine as well as _De distinctione_,
there is very little of Gerson's writing on prophecy and discernment
available in translation. The only other English translation of the
treatises I was discussing comes from a CUA doctoral dissertation published
as _The Concept of Discretio Spirituum in "De Probatione Spirituum" and "De
Distinctione Verarum Visionum a Falsis" of John Gerson_ by Paschal Boland
(Washington, D.C., 1959). Boland's translation of _De probatione_, while
adding a few more clarifications to the text than altogether necessary,
does reproduce Gerson's argument in this relatively short treatise and
might be worth looking into for an advanced class or a student who wanted
to write a paper on these topics. (In the dissertation, Boland focuses on
harmonizing Gerson's teachings with modern Catholic teachings on the
discernment of spirits, and as such he chooses to ignore the heavily
conciliarist _De examinatione doctrinarum_. This is a pity, since _De
examinatione_ is also the treatise where Gerson lets loose with the most
definitive remarks about women leading popes astray.) You might also be
interested in an English translation of parts of Gerson's defense of Joan
of Arc (there is an argument over which of two treatises is authentic,
which I try to avoid at all costs): H.G. Franq, "Jean Gerson's Theological
Treatise and other Memoirs in Defence of Joan of Arc," _Revue de
l'universite' d'Ottawa_ 41 (1971) pp. 74-85. Finally, I would suggest
Catherine of Siena's _Dialogue_ (also available in the Classics series) as
the most explicit discussion of discernment issues *by* a woman in this
period, although the theme can certainly be found in other authors.
Secondary material would include the Vauchez article I mentioned, as well
as another in that volume: "Mystical Sanctity at the Time of the Avignon
Papacy and the Great Schism." A slightly earlier debate which addresses
the gender question in detail is described in Bernard McGinn's "Visions and
Critiques of Visions in Thirteenth-Century Mysticism," in _Rending the
Veil: Concealment and Secrecy in the History of Religions_, ed. Elliot
Wolfson (New York, 1998). You might also want to check Rosalynn Voaden,
_God's Words, Women's Voices: The Discernment of Spirits in the Writing of
Late-Medieval Women Visionaries_ (York, 1999). Although I don't agree with
some aspects of Voaden's overall picture, it's the only work directly on
the topic until I *cough* finish this dissertation thing, and it has a very
useful bibliography for broader questions of medieval women and authority.
While my perspective is undoubtedly skewed, I really do feel that the
dialogue about true and false revelations is an integral part of most
late-medieval mysticism. Its intersection with medieval gender issues may
well make the "obligatory section on mysticism" more interesting as well as
more historically grounded. ;)
Wendy Love Anderson home phone: (773)924-0553
The Divinity School e-mail: [log in to unmask]
The University of Chicago URL: http://home.uchicago.edu/~wlanders/
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