[Milton-L] CFP RSA 2010: Milton in Italy

[kimberly johnson]

Jeffrey--

How about instead of deleting it you submit it as an abstract and look
toward Venice....?  :)

Kim Johnson



2009/3/31 Horace Jeffery Hodges <jefferyhodges at yahoo.com>

> And here I was, expecting a discussion of how the "young castrati in the
> guise of stripling cherubs" inspired Milton's depiction of Satan's encounter
> with Uriel.
>
> Now, I've got to delete that thought...
>
> Jeffery Hodges
>
> --- On *Tue, 3/31/09, john rumrich <rumrich at mail.utexas.edu>* wrote:
>
>
> From: john rumrich <rumrich at mail.utexas.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Milton-L] CFP RSA 2010: Milton in Italy
> To: "John Milton Discussion List" <milton-l at lists.richmond.edu>
> Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 2:11 PM
>
>
> Sorry for the mistaken send of an embryonic message.  I hadn't even gotten
> rid of the typos yet.  Do me a favor and delete it.
>
> John Rumrich
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 1:58 PM, john rumrich <rumrich at mail.utexas.edu<http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rumrich@mail.utexas.edu>
> > wrote:
>
>> Dear Kimberly
>>
>> Here is the abstract for a paper I would like to present at the 2010 RSA
>> conference.  I will also attach a short vita below.
>>
>> John Rumrich
>>
>>
>>
>> *Abstract*:
>>
>> *Milton among the Castrati*
>>
>> Clement VIII (1592-1605) was the first to open the Pontifical choir to
>> castrati singers, who by 1625 had replace all of the soprano falsettos in
>> the Sistine Chapel.  Doctrinally, the Church consistently opposed
>> castration, Clement VIII and his successors were fascinated  by the voices
>> of the castrati sopranos, so much so that despite the doctrinal
>> inconsistency Clement VIII ruled that castration could be allowed solely for
>> the glory of God.  Subsequently, young castrati in the guise of stripling
>> cherubs participated in church parades and for more than a century were
>> available for hire to keep vigil and take part in children's funerals (this
>> became a significant source of revenue during times of high infant
>> mortality).
>>
>> Scholars have established Milton's preoccupation with music during his
>> stay in Rome, pointing to his large purchases of musical scores, his visit
>> to Cardinal Barberini for an evening of music, and the epigrams to Leonora
>> Baroni, who was the protege of Rospigliosi, an early composer of operas.  In
>> short, it is scarcely credible that Milton could have avoided encountering
>> eunuchs whose sexual maturity had been sacrificed for the sake of their art
>> and God's glory.  Milton naturally bore a resemblance to these young men.
>>  Referred to as the Lady while at Cambridge, he was slow to develop
>> secondary sexual characteristics,  and possessed a remarkably fair
>> complexion.  One never sees the stubble familiar from Shakespeare's
>> frontispieces on Milton's portraits. Milton in his Commonplace Book
>> addresses the Pauline injunction to become a eunuch for God and although he,
>> like the Church, opposed the literal practice, metaphorical castrations
>> occur in his later works particularly in connection with the advancement of
>> God's glory.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 2:13 PM, kimberly  johnson <
>> kimberly.johnson71 at gmail.com<http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kimberly.johnson71@gmail.com>>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > The Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association invites papers
>> for a
>> > proposed session on Milton and Italy, to be held at the 2010 RSA
>> conference
>> > in Venice, Italy.
>> >
>> > The proposed session aims to explore the political, artistic, and
>> > epistemological effects of Milton’s 1638-9 travels through Italy.
>> Milton’s
>> > journey made him the acquaintance of such figures as the Vatican’s
>> > librarian, the grammarian Benedetto Buonmattei, Venetian scholar and
>> papal
>> > critic Fra Paolo Sarpi, and Galileo, and exposed the emerging political
>> > thinker to new modes of civic governance. Barbara Lewalski has noted
>> that
>> > “[t]he Venice Milton visited was the most tolerant state in Italy,” one
>> > which had resisted many of the censorious acts of the Inquisition. We
>> invite
>> > paper abstracts (200 words) on any aspect of Milton’s response to the
>> > philosophy, literature, culture, or religion of Italy.
>> >
>> > Paper proposals (250 word maximum) and a brief c.v. should be sent to
>> > kimberly.johnson71 at gmail.com<http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kimberly.johnson71@gmail.com>,
>> by no later than March 31, 2009. Please label
>> > e-mail subject as “Milton in Italy.”
>> >
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>> >
>>
>>
>
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
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