On numerous occasions during the semester, we have spoken about the medievals' veneration of the Virgin Mary. Considering, too, that we have referred to and read from two or three Marian lyrics, I think it might be helpful to post a link to Karen Saupe's collection, Middle English Marian Lyrics. The book has been published under TEAMS' Middle English Texts Series (just as Doug's The N-Town Plays was), and is, therefore, not only available in the Whitworth library but also online.
What I find most fascinating about these pieces is that reading through the lyrics with other literary works in mind (i.e., CT, Ancrene Wisse, The N-Town Plays, etc.) quickly reveals how deeply the cult of the Virgin Mary penetrated culture as a whole. Many Marian lyrics appear short when compared with the other original works composed during the period, presumably because the briefer lyrics would be more easily memorized, and there is such a vast store of preserved Marian lyrics that their popularity cannot be reasonably disputed. Whether or not you will be writing anything specifically about the medieval cult, research into these lyrics will certainly reveal much about medieval spirituality and may also help you understand what effects such Marian rhetoric had on the culture as a whole.
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