Performing Faith in Romance Epics and Chivalric Romances
Romance-epics and chivalric romances not only shed light on the societies (local, regional, and global) in which they were produced, they also inform us of those who kept them at the forefront of their national backbone. These texts are sites of religious performance in which devotional prayers and rituals, as well as discussions of spiritual matters (like conversion and apostasy) are brought to the forefront. This session aims to consider how these poets understood and presented the performance of their faith – and of the non-Catholic faiths – that their subjects (and perhaps they themselves) encountered.