Research Symposium

BIO

Bailey Underwood is a first-year English scholar at Florida State University pursuing a career in post-secondary education, writing, and/or publishing. She is involved in the International English Honors Society and History Club on campus. She also serves as a research intern for the Rosenstrasse Civil Courage Foundation. Bailey's absolute favorite hobby is reading. She is from the Pensacola area and loves the new home she has found in Tallahassee. She is a fierce cat-lover, DIY-er, and workaholic, and she is so excited to have the opportunity to present all of her hard work at the UROP Symposium!

The Ladies of Minnesang: Female Agency in Medieval Literature

Abstract

Female figures in medieval troubadourian Minnesang lyrics are often characterized as powerless objects. They are placed into several inflexible roles that constrain their acceptable behavior, such as the courtly woman, the seductive shepherdess, and the passionate lover. By deconstructing male and female interactions in works by Walther Von Vogelwiede, Friedrich Von Hausen, and others, I argue these women develop agency over their male counterparts through their God-given beauty, sexuality, and supernaturality. I collected supporting information from lyrical poems by the medieval troubadours mentioned above and several academic articles by medieval scholars, most notably Dr. Will Hasty. Minnesang women achieve “gewalt,” or power, in three main ways. They possess irresistible beauty, often from God himself, that is distinctly feminine and unconquered by men. They make their own choices, consenting to or refusing “lon,” defined as an act of sexual repayment in gratitude to noble knights. Finally, a supernatural, domineering woman, Lady Minne, orchestrates the knight’s sexual courtship of his lady, violently forcing him into a relationship destined to fail. These findings suggest that medieval women- although they were restrained by social expectations and local legislation- used their inherently feminine traits as forms of power. My audience will find compelling comparisons between the roles of modern women and those of medieval women in historical and contemporary feminized forms of power, such as the establishment of the female gaze in beauty standards, the utilization of sex work as an income source, and the rise of female voices in acts of anti-patriarchal rebellion.

Keywords: Medieval, Literature, Poetry, Gender, Sexuality, Love