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In the grand narrative of renewal and creativity in the Europe of the "long twelfth century," it has been easy to assume that Ireland was marginal and backward-looking, with the energy of its thinkers and writers concentrated on preserving and continuing the cultural forms of the national past. In recent scholarship, however , it has become clear that Irish intellectual life in this period was much closer to the European mainstream than was once believed. Here we present a case study in this area, concerned with the schematization of historical time and the course of human life in parallel systems of six ages. Two examples of Irish text production from the early twelfth century-one an extended marginal gloss of some theological subtlety and the other a complex heroic image in a narrative eulogy-are compared with parallel manifestations in three sources from the heart of mainstream European creativity in the period: an encyclopedic compilation of history and theology, a sequence of newly composed hymns for the Divine Office, and the iconographic program of stained-glass windows in a newly rebuilt cathedral. The parallels we draw here point to the conclusion that, despite the obvious differences in outer form, the modes of learned creativity reflected in Irish manuscript culture were closely aligned with international trends across Europe in the same period. To set this material in context, we preface our discussion with some general remarks on medieval Irish writing , before proceeding to the details of the chosen examples.

“I am the Sovereignty” (“Misi in Flaithius”), states a woman boldly as her body is transformed from loathliness to loveliness in Echtra mac nEchach Muigmedóin (The Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Muigmedóin), an eleventh-century Middle Irish prose narrative that intertwines sex, power, gender, and, it will be argued in this essay, the disease of leprosy. This woman is one version of the widely attested caillech, the “sovereignty figure” or “loathly lady” who embodies the rule of Ireland and who ultimately demonstrates that she is not just an object to be coveted or scorned. Rather, “Sovereignty,” as she frequently names herself, actively tests kingly candidates (often requiring them to kiss her or engage in sexual intercourse), endows her preferred male with power, disperses shrewd, politically enabling advice, and in some narratives even returns to reclaim power or “sovereignty” from an unfit king.