O řeči těl a moci slov v bohemikálních Radostech Panny Marie
Bodily Language and the Power of Words in the Joys of the Virgin Mary from the Kingdom of Bohemia

Summary/Abstract: The cult of the Joys of the Virgin Mary was a popular form of late medieval devotion, as attested both by Latin and vernacular culture. In the Kingdom of Bohemia, three narrative poems were composed on the subject during the second half of the fourteenth century alongside prayers and meditations on the Joys. Each of the three compositions presents a peculiar way to communicate the essential points of Catholic doctrine regarding Mary (perpetual virginity, painless childbirth, co-redemptive role), but also offer various methods to induce the public to devotional participation. A version copied in the Manuscript of Hradec Králové builds upon authoritative speech produced mainly by the narrator, the efficacy of which is represented and argued for within the plot and through his own commentaries. This rendition also puts forward the correlation between expressive body language and the emotional conditions of the protagonists, which call for imitation by the public (in the Joy of the Visitation in particular). A different version from the Manuscript of St. Vitus Metropolitan Chapter Library in Prague emphasizes, on the other hand, the ability to listen to saintly words. The religious message is voiced here by the characters themselves rather than by the narrator; Mary’s long lyric speech to resurrected Jesus and Christ’s address to Mary upon her death create a space where the readers or listeners are invited to empathize with them and ultimately contemplate their role in salvation. This poem thus calls for a more meditative way of reception. The last composition represents a combination of prayers to Mary with a narrative of her death and Assumption based on an apocryphal story in Latin. Personal devotional gesture is combined here with an edifying goal directed to the larger audience.

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