2003/03/01 by Jacqueline Simpson · 4 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Medieval Literature and History #Reformation and Early Modern Christianity #Historical Studies of British Isles
paper · doi:10.1080/0015587032000145397
openalex publication_date 2003/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper examines two sets of medieval English narratives describing encounters with ghosts, those by William of Newburgh and those in a manuscript from Byland Abbey. Both combine theological elements with non-religious features, some of which can be linked to pre-Christian practices and others to later folklore. But neither the theology nor the folklore is uniform. Furthermore, it is not possible to assign theological attitudes solely to the clergy and/or an educated e´lite, and “folkloric” ideas solely to an underclass. These texts display an ongoing medieval debate in which neither clerics nor the laity spoke with a single voice.