Suffering In The Medieval Church

Physical Suffering: The Medieval Church and Women’s Bodies
The common belief among most scholars is that Medieval Christianity was anti body; that they were more focused on their spiritual self, and tried to forget their materiality bodies. This belief is supported by the focus on meditation and contemplation and the increase in self-inflicted physical suffering. This is also further supported by the abstractness of their art and how it focuses more on the message than the bodies. I disagree because there was an increase in intensity in Christianity around 1000AD that resulted in an increased focus on the body of Christ, by trying to imitate the body of Christ or by creating an intimacy with the God head. (Walsh, 4/5/16). For men, simply being male meant that
For women, this was not an option. Therefore they imitated the body of Christ by physically suffering the same way he did. Also, by the Medieval Era they began having body and body part reliquaries, where the body parts were actually inside them (Sexton, 4/7/16). Similarly, by the Gothic period, their art too is more realistic looking, and is more focused on the body. Therefore, I argue that the medieval Christian church was not anti-body, though their practices make it seem that way. If anything, they are hyperaware of bodies, especially women’s, because of their belief that for women, physical suffering leads to spirituality, and that their spirituality is what helps them bear the physical suffering. Another reason is because of how highly they regulate women’s bodies, in response to how males react to it. This awareness