Pride, Queen of the Sins; Pious Legends; and 'The Metamorphosed Monarch'
Date
2009
Authors
Lee, Brian S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (SASMARS)
Abstract
Pride, as the primal cause of the Devil’s fall from Heaven, an idea derived from Isaiah 14, was regarded in the Middle Ages as the first, or Queen, of the Sins. In theological and moral treatises, in exemplary anecdotes, satire and romance, the notion is explored again and again. Nebuchadnezzar was a major exemplar of the Sin, and pride features prominently in the tales of the Emperor Jovinian and King Robert of Sicily. The article traces the medieval history of the idea and its crystallization in metaphor, homily and anecdote, and examines the two exemplary tales, with their after-life in nineteenth-century redactions.
Description
Keywords
Middle Ages -- Periodicals. , Renaissance -- Periodicals. , Middle Ages. , Renaissance.