Connaître par l’extase. Repenser les expériences extatiques médiévales
Knowing through Ecstasy. Rethinking Medieval Ecstatic Experiences

Author(s): Thevenier Charlene
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Social history, Modern Age, Sociology of Religion
Published by: Editura Pro Universitaria
Keywords: ecstatic experiences; women; devotional movement; knowledge; expertise
Summary/Abstract: In this article, I propose reconsidering ecstatic experiences from the perspective of knowledge and exploring how people in the West during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries related to those accustomed to these experiencesof leaving one’s self. The three cases examined ― Angela of Foligno, Mary of Oignies, and Douceline of Provence — reflect the lay devotional movement of the period. They were also contemporaneous with the rise of academic institutions, which excluded women from scholarly life and prioritized logic. Nevertheless, ecstatic — here, women — were regarded as having privileged access to certain forms of knowledge. I provide an overview of their respective areas of expertise, outline the various social functions these exceptional figures could perform, and highlight the dynamics through which ecstatic experiences were socially transmitted and shared.

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