Medieval Gossip

	Transformative Talk: The Tale of the Gossip
	Anyone interested in late medieval culture may know that gossip, the same type of idle talk we know today, was a force to be reckoned with. It could influence not only social interactions but religious and political practices and events. It had the potential to be both a productive and a destructive force. Not surprisingly, only women were seen to be gossips since they were part of the non-dominant class. When engaging in current critical conversation, and during a time of economic and social dislocation, the power of the female gossip to subvert patriarchal authority meant that it had to be tightly controlled. Independent opinion, constructive criticism, or even concern of any kind for the way the community was being “run” was perceived by male authorities as insubordinate and disruptive. Ultimately, “gossip” was punishable as a crime. The devil Tutivillus can be regularly found in medieval art and literature. He’s associated with collecting the “dropped” words of preoccupied women distracted by secular matters. A device called the “scold’s bridle” was a gruesome mask used as punishment for women convicted by the magistrate of the crime of “idle talk”. It had a bell on top to draw attention and contribute to the shame and humiliation of the wearer and it would have been impossible to speak when wearing the bridle.Begun in Britain in the 1500s, this form of punishment lasted 300 years before it was abolished. (Photo: Courtesy Science Museum of London) Tutivillus, the devil of hell, He writeth har names, sothe to tell, Ad missam garulantes. Better wer be at home for ay Than her to serve the devil to pay, Sic vana famulantes. Thes women that sitteth the church about, Thay beth all of the devilis rowte, Divina impedientes.1 The devil Tutivillus can be regularly found in medieval art and literature. He’s associated with collecting the “dropped” words of preoccupied women distracted by secular matters. A device called the “scold’s bridle” was a gruesome mask used as punishment for women convicted by the magistrate of the crime of “idle talk”. It had a bell on top to draw attention and contribute to the shame and humiliation of the wearer and it would have been impossible to speak when wearing the bridle.Begun in Britain in the 1500s, this form of punishment lasted 300 years before it was abolished. (Photo: Courtesy Science Museum of London)