'This distinguished contribution to the study of premodern corporeal materiality definitely pushes forward postmodern notions of the body as a site for competing discourses. It investigates the tension between semiotic and somatic meanings from various angles by providing hitherto unfamiliar theoretical perspectives and by tracing continuities as well as discontinuities between perceptions of the body in the medieval and early modern periods.' Archiv für das Studium der neueren Spachen und Literaturen '... the effort to expand the purview of body studies into fresh materials and topics proves successful ...' Early Modern LIterary Studies