Robert Manning of Brunne
English · 13th-14th century
English chronicler and Gilbertine canon who wrote Handlyng Synne, a Middle English verse treatise on sin and the Ten Commandments.
Connection to Taylor Swift
His Middle English work Handlyng Synne contains passages about women transforming into witches and the wandering uterus causing insanity, exemplifying the medieval literary tradition of men characterizing women as mad or witchy, the cultural inheritance Taylor's 'mad woman' rebels against.
Notable Works
- Handlyng Synne, Chronicle of England
Appears in the Archive
Context within the Archive
Handlyng Synne
Uncle Jerry brings out his copy of Robert Manning of Brunne's Middle English work Handlyng Synne (Handling Sin), which catalogs the Ten Commandments and types of sin. He notes that Manning writes about women who transform into witches and whose wandering uterus causes them to go insane, connecting this to the centuries-long tradition of men characterizing women as mad or witchy, the very tradition the song rebels against.