Event Date: 22 March 2011
Windsor Auditorium
Royal Holloway
Egham TW 20 0EX

School of Modern Languages, Literatures & Cultures

Royal Holloway University of London

Inaugural Lecture

Professor Ruth Harvey (Professor of Medieval Occitan Literature) – The Lady and the Song

The medieval troubadours are best known for their creation of Courtly Love, a cultural transformation affecting the whole course of European literature and sensibilities. The idealised Lady addressed in their love-songs lacked voice or agency. In contrast, this lecture will focus on some of the many ways in which noblewomen actively nourished and exploited this cultural shift: as patrons, politicians, poets and critics.

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Introduction by Professor Geoff Ward (Vice-Principal Royal Holloway) .

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lecture:

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Vote of Thanks by Professor Simon Gaunt (King’s College, London) .

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accompanying images:

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