Friendship and Love, Ethics and Politics: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern History (The Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lectures)

237 Pages·2010·0.84 MB·English

by  Eva Osterberg

Osterberg_bor_nyomda 11/6/09 1:19 PM Page 1
The Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lectures
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l Lata Friendship and Love,
Today, friendship, love and sexuality are mostly viewed as private, per- ecli
sonal and informal relations. In the mediaeval and early modern period, tue Z Ethics and Politics
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just like in ancient times, this was different. The classical philosophy of em
s
friendship (Aristotle) included both friendship and love in the concept o
n
of philia. It was also linked to an argument about the virtues needed to D
become an excellent member of the city state. Thus, close relations a Studies in Mediaeval and Early
v
were not only thought to be a matter of pleasant gatherings in privacy, is
Modern History
but just as much a matter of ethics and politics.
What, then, happened to the classical ideas of close relations when
they were transmitted to philosophers, clerical and monastic thinkers,
Eva Österberg
state officials or other people in the mediaeval and early modern pe-
riod? To what extent did friendship transcend the distinctions between E
v
private and public that then existed? How were close relations shaped a
in practice? Did dialogues with close friends help to contribute to the Ö
process of subject-formation in the Renaissance and Enlightenment? s
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To what degree did institutions of power or individual thinkers find it e
r
necessary to caution against friendship or love and sexuality? b
e
These are some of the questions raised in the book, on the basis of r
g
different European sources. The discussions touch upon changes in the
distinctions between private and public, in subject-formation and legal
practices, as well as the varying cultural, existential and ethical impor-
EF
tance of close relations in history. T R
H IE F L
ABOUT THE AUTHOR IC N
Eva Österberg is Professor of History at Lund University, Sweden. As a S D riendship ove
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cultural historian and expert in Scandinavian history, she has published A H
N
I
several books in Swedish, most recently Vänskap – en lång historia D P
(2007). She has also published in English, for example Mentalities and P A
N
Other Realities (1991) and (with Sölvi Sogner) People Meet the Law O
D
L
(2000). She was Vice President of Comité International des Sciences IT L
Historiques (CISH) 2000–2005. I O
C V
S E
CentralEuropeanUniversityPress ,
Budapest – New York ISBN978 963 9776 60 9
Sales and information: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ceupress.com
E P
ISBN978 963 9776 60 9
thics olitics
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Friendship and Love, Ethics and Politics
Osterberg_001_010 10/13/09 12:01 PM Page 2
The Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lecture Series
at Central European University, Budapest
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Friendship and Love,
Ethics and Politics
S tudies in M edia eva l
and E arly M od ern H ist ory
Eva Österberg
Central European University Press
Budapest – New York
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© 2010by Eva Österberg
Published in 2010by
Central European University Press
An imprint of the
Central European University Share Company
Nádor utca 11, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary
Tel:[phone] or 327-3000
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ceupress.com
400 West 59th Street, New York NY 10019, USA
Tel:[phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the permission of the Publisher.
Cover design and layout by Péter Tóth
ISBN 978 963 9776 60 9
ISSN 1996 1197
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Österberg, Eva, 1942-
Friendship and love, ethics and politics: studies in mediaeval and early
modern history / Eva Österberg. p. cm.
(The Natalie Zemon Davis annual lecture series at Central European
University, Budapest)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-9639776609
1. Friendship--Europe--History. 2. Love--Europe--History.
3. Sex--Europe--History. I. Title. II. Series.
BF575.F66O76 2010 177'.62--dc22 2009036364
Printed in Hungary by Akadémia Nyomda, Martonvásár
Osterberg_001_010 10/13/09 12:01 PM Page 5
Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1. Friendship, Love, and Sexuality 5
in Premodern Times
Themes and problems
Chapter 2. Challenging the Private–Public Dichotomy 23
Friendship in mediaeval and early modern society
Chapter 3. Me and My Friends 91
Individuality, friendship, and autobiography
from Augustine to Rousseau
Chapter 4. Sexuality, Love, and Gender 147
The politics of heteronormativity
in Reformation Sweden
Chapter 5. Close Relationships—Then and Now 191
References 207
Index 221
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Preface
The Natalie Zemon Davis annual lecture series at the
Central European University has given me the oppor-
tunity to reformulate in English some of the interpre-
tations of friendship, love, and sexuality in premodern
Europe that I have put forward in my Swedish work.1
These are themes with important ethical and existen-
tial implications, as well as a political and cultural sub-
text. The lively discussions following my lectures in
Budapest in November 2008 inspired me to develop
my ideas, and I am truly grateful to Natalie, several
colleagues, and the graduate students at the CEU for
their constructive and rewarding remarks on these oc-
casions. I hope this book will reflect just how much I
profited from our enjoyable discussions in Budapest.
I was deeply honored to be invited to the CEU to
give the Natalie Zemon Davis annual lecture series.
1
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Natalie and I met for the first time when she was
touring Sweden following the publication in Swedish
of her book on Martin Guerre. Since then I have had
the privilege of working with her on the Comité In-
ternational des Sciences Historique (CISH), organiz-
ing the world congresses of history in Oslo 2000 and
Sydney 2005. On several occasions she has been a
much admired and appreciated guest at the depart-
ment of history here at Lund University, where she
has given lectures and generously contributed to the
research of our graduate students from the National
Doctoral School in History by commenting on their
papers. No wonder it evoked such general enthusiasm
not only amongst my fellow historians but across the
university as whole when she was awarded an honorary
degree in the mediaeval cathedral in Lund. In her
inimitably sensitive, wise, and charming way, Natalie
has been like a mentor to me. She is an enduring ex-
ample to all historians, dazzling in her capacity to
seek out, analyze, and communicate the multi-faceted
expressions of human life, with all its variations in re-
ligion, gender, geography, language, or social and po-
litical context. As Lynn Hunt so neatly put it, Natalie
has “brought a unique blend of charisma, enthusiasm
and good sense to the study and teaching of history.”
She has also demonstrated again and again that it is
2
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possible to combine profound, innovative interpreta-
tion and a thorough critical examination of the sources
with artistic brilliance in the writing of history. Truly
a remarkable example!
In Budapest, Gábor Klaniczay, his staff, colleagues,
and graduate students in the Mediaeval Studies De-
partment and the History Department helped to
make my visit both pleasant and inspiring. I am most
grateful for their warm welcome, liberal hospitality,
and animated conversation. I was also fortunate to be
invited to join several excursions in Budapest, arranged
by Gábor and his colleagues at Collegium Budapest,
as a part of an engrossing conference on the remak-
ing of the urban landscape. Thank you all old and
new friends, from the bottom of my heart!
I am also grateful to Alan Crozier and Charlotte
Merton who, in different ways, have helped me to
make my manuscript comprehensible. Charlotte
checked the final manuscript with both skill and
enthusiasm.
Eva Österberg
Note
1See, for example, Eva Österberg,ed., Jämmerdal och fröjdesal.
Kvinnor i stormaktstidens Sverige, Stockholm, 1997; Eva Öster-
berg, Vänskap— en lång historia, Stockholm, 2007.
3