Sexing Scholasticism: Gender in Medieval Thought 1150-1520

In 1156, the scholastic theologian Peter Lombard asked 'Whether God could have taken human form in the female sex?' The question was posed in his Sentences, the foundational textbook used by all students in theology throughout the Middle Ages. Subsequently, this intriguing question was the subject of investigation for countless students. This project will research these responses to Lombard's question. Producing a new set of sources for understanding conceptions of gender in the Middle Ages, I will advance our knowledge of the relationship between the intellectual life of elite ruling culture and conceptions of gender disseminated throughout society.