Prof. Mike Kuczysnki (Tulane), ‘The Psalms and the Mixed Life’

This lecture will explore the dual private and public (interior- and exterior-directed) nature of the poetry of the Psalms, as prayer and polemic, from the Old English through the Middle English periods. Topics related to this general theme will include the convergences and conflicts between clerical and lay affinity for the Psalms and, more particularly, the 14th c. Augustinian canon Walter Hilton’s treatise on combining the active and contemplative lives; Hilton’s commentaries on Psalms 90 and 91; and Wycliffite revisions of the 14th c. mystic Richard Rolle’s Psalter translation and commentary, which adapt Rolle’s mysticism to more secular concerns. The talk will be of interest to professional medievalists and also accessible to non-specialists who are concerned with literary and social history and practical spirituality. All texts (Latin and Middle English) will be quoted in translation.