Giselle de Nie, born in Delft, the Netherlands, in 1938. Ph.D. from Utrecht University. Associate Professor of Medieval History at Utrecht University.

Fellow (1 September 1991 – 30 June 1992)

Do images empower or tyrannize? — P. Ricoeur thinks, and I would tend to agree with him, that they do both, depending upon how they are used. I would add: depending upon their qualities as visualized patterns of a certain kind of emotional experience. In the context of the general discussion about meaning and language, I looked into the question of how Gregory de Tours thought his own spoken word might actually transmit the creative, embodied truth of Christ as the Word.