The Distaff Gospels

The Distaff Gospels (Les Evangiles des Quenouilles) is an Old French fifteenth-century collection of popular beliefs held by late medieval women, first published in 1480.^{[ citation needed ]} It was edited by Fouquart de Cambray, Duval Antoine and Jean d'Arras ^[1] and published at Bruges by Colart Mansion.^{[ citation needed ]} The narrative takes place within the context of a gathering of women who meet with their spindles and distaffs to spin. They discuss folk wisdom ^[1] related to their domestic lives, including controlling errant husbands, predicting the gender of future offspring and curing common ailments.^{[ citation needed ]}

Editions

• Les évangiles des quenouilles. Paris: P. Jannet, 1855
• Les Evangiles des quenouilles; édition critique, introduction et notes par Madeleine Jeay. Paris; Montréal: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin; Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1985 ^[1]
• Les Evangiles des quenouilles; traduits et présentés par Jacques Lacarrière. Paris: A. Michel, 1998

English translations

• The gospelles of dystaues. London: Wynkyn de Worde, [c. 1510] (translated by Henry Watson)
• Jeay, Madeleine and Kathleen Garay, eds. and trans. 2006.The Distaff Gospels. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press. ^[1]

Further reading

• Paupert, Anne Les fileuses et le clerc: une étude des Evangiles des quenouilles. Paris; Genève: Champion; Slatkine, 1990

References

1. Small, Susan (2009). "The Distaff Gospels: A First Modern English Edition of Les Évangiles des Quenouilles (review)" . University of Toronto Quarterly . 78 (1): 232–233. doi:10.1353/utq.0.0361. ISSN   1712-5278.