12:30pm
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1:45pm |
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Queer Life (& Death) during Pandemic: A queer examining the tale of Egbert and Ethelhun in Bede's Historia ecclesiastica
(Special Event)
In this talk, Jo will discuss the tale of Egbert and Ethelhun in Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. Bede's 8th century text provides a rare glimpse into life during the arrival, spread, and subsequent devastation of the Justinianic Pandemic (=Y. pestis, i.e. plague) in Britain and Ireland. Diverging from other contemporary sources, Bede describes the devastation in more than purely mechanical terms, instead relating the emotional impact caused by mass death. In particular, he tells the story of two clerics, Egbert and Ethelhun, the last surviving members of their monastery. In this paper, Jo will argue for a queer reading of Egbert and Ethelhun's story, contextualizing their narrative within the rapidly developing historiography on queer lives in the Middle Ages.(Refreshments provided)
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