Taming the Volcano: Hegemonic and Counter-Hegemonic Masculinities in the Middle Ages

Abstract

Relying to Norbert Elias' process sociology and the Bourdieusian theory of practice, this article intends to outline the beginnings of the long-term transformation of Western masculine habituses. First, it concentrates on hegemonic knightly masculine dispositions, pointing out how these patterns are structured by the uncivilized libido dominandi, i.e. by the more or less free indulgence in physical violence. Next, it scrutinises the counter-hegemonic dispositions of clerics, based on internalised violence control. Finally, it argues that there are several transitory figurations between the two ideal types, i.e. the borders between the knightly and clerical masculinities are blurred. Consequently, as a result of changing structural constraints, by the end of the Middle Ages hybrid masculine habituses are being formed.