6 - The Saints, Satellites, and Sass Series, Part 2: Cadoc (Lifric, 1075 CE)

Queering Arthur

Welcome to 🌈Queering Arthur👑, our sixth episode of the podcast, and second installment of the Saints, Satellites, and Sass series on Arthurian Hagiographies. Join us in exploring ✨queer interpretations🧠 of 🫅🏾The Life of St. Cadoc📜. The Context for the episodes in this series was covered in previous episodes, but a deeper dive is available in member’s only episodes, available to knights of the virtual round table. Discussion includes: Authorship controversy; a manifestation of the investiture controversy during the reign of William the Conqueror; land redistribution after the Norman conquest; and other changes in the church after the Norman invasion. Hagiographies as a Hero’s Journey; and adaptations of the Arthur-like figure in Norman Britian. Analysis in the episode includes: the historical and theoretical connections between chivalry and the modern progressive liberal world order; pathological altruism in medieval chivalry; sadism vs early forms of justice; and discipline vs punishment in Foucault’s philosophy.

Find all our social media links at www.queeringarthur.com.

Queerthurs! Join our Virtual Roundtable on Patreon for access to the Community Discord: https://www.patreon.com/QueeringArthur?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Special Announcement! Now you can become a Knight of The Virtual Round Table and get

access to upcoming members only episodes!

As always, we're discussing these questions on our discord:

1. How do historical uncertainties surrounding the authorship of "The Life of St. Cadoc" influence interpretations of the text?

2. How does the portrayal of Arthur as an antagonist challenge traditional Arthurian hero narratives?

3. Discuss the alignment or misalignment between the themes of chivalry in medieval hagiographies and their potential queer interpretations.

4. How does the hierarchical observation of corporeal punishment in medieval texts resonate with Michel Foucault's concept of discipline in modern society?

5. Analyze the significance of the adverb "humiliatingly" in the context of Arthur's actions towards the holy man in the text.

6. How does the portrayal of chivalry as altruism intersect with the broader themes of classism and pathological altruism in medieval literature?

7. Discuss how the Norman invasion and subsequent political changes influenced the religious and cultural landscape depicted in "The Life of St. Cadoc."

8. How does the historical context of the Norman invasion shape the narrative and themes present in "The Life of St. Cadoc"?

9. Explore the motivations behind Arthur's actions towards the holy man and discuss their symbolic implications within the narrative and for today.

Members of our Queer Retinue (Patrons) also get stickers, merch, and members only events like methodology, Livestreams (tabletop games, videogames), readings, reenactments and radio plays, posters, comics, expanding sources, like Arthuriana in modern books, movies, shows, and comics, for example, Tennyson and Elliot, Boorman's Excalibur, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, Disney's Gargoyles, Hellboy, Divine Gate, and more. Arthuriana spans the world and time and we’re gonna queer it all: https://www.patreon.com/QueeringArthur?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Consider it: you can join us and discover the authentic queer narratives woven throughout Arthuriana from the authors and their works, the arts, language, history, politics, religion, and trade that shaped the culture. Unpack the 💖intertextuality📚 using mythology, psychology, biology, and cosmology 🏳️‍🌈 Come! 💙Queer Arthur💜 with us ₊˚✧𑁍.ೃ࿔*: #queer #podcast #arthurianlegend #lgbtq #hermeneutics #staychivalrous