Ten papers to look forward to at KZoo 2014
The schedule for the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies, which will be held at Western Michigan University from May 8-11, 2014 has now been released.
Books on Charlemagne
Those interested in the life and reign of Charlemagne will there are many books about him. Here are a just few, including primary sources, biographies, studies focused on particular aspects of his rule, and his legacy throughout the Middle Ages.
Medieval Friends: Meet the Historical Honeys!
We’re running a new regular feature to showcase history websites, called “Medieval Friends”. We want to encourage and invite those of you who are passionate about history to share a little about your websites and yourselves.
Sodomy and the Knights Templar
In this article, I will analyze testimony relevant to the charges of the Inquisition that members of the order of Knights Templar throughout Christendom practiced homosexual acts of various sorts from illicit kisses to sodomy.
Voices from a Distant Land: Fragments of a Twelfth-Century Nuns’ Letter Collection
In these fragments echo women’s voices speaking of their intersecting spiritual, economic, and personal concerns, voices offering us a rare glimpse both of the lives of Admont’s twelfth-century nuns and of their continuing interaction with the world outside the cloister.
To be a King: changing concepts of kingship during the reign of Henry VI, 1422-1461
The questions we must ask ourselves at this early juncture, considering the nature of the debate, is why this king was able to persevere for so long on the throne despite his infirmities?
The Three Tellings of Beowulf’s Fight with Grendel’s Mother
Beowulf offers three descriptions of Beowulf’s fight with Grendel’s mother. The first is by the narrator (ll. 1492-1590), the second is by Beowulf to Hrothgar (ll. 1652-76), the third is by Beowulf to Hygelac (included in ll. 2131-51, within the longer speech from l. 2047).
Do Animals Go to Heaven? Medieval Philosophers Contemplate Heavenly Human Exceptionalism
Beginning in about the second century C.E., Christian philosophers reflected upon the nature of human beings, our purpose on earth, and our path to the promised afterlife. In the course of these reflections, they considered our relationship to nature, and the non- human animals that share our world.
The ‘second Jezebel’: representations of the sixth-century Queen Brunhild
The sixth century Merovingian queen Brunhild is a figure of extremes, lauded by Pope Gregory the Great as ‘most excellent daughter’ and later defiled as ‘the enemy of
Christianity’.
Armourers and their workshops: The tools and techniques of late medieval armour production
Armour represents one of the most recognised and enduring monuments of the Middle Ages, but its fabrication as a craft-product remain obscure.
Women Healers and the Medical Marketplace of 16th-Century Lyon
Women Healers and the Medical Marketplace of 16th-Century Lyon Alison Klairmont-Lingo Dynamis: Vol.19 (1999) Abstract Although women’s legal and marital status make them…
Sex and obscenity in medieval art
When researching early or ‘forbidden’ historical subjects it can be a considerable challenge finding primary sources that give a first-hand experience of contemporary events.
Phthiriasis: the riddle of the lousy disease
Of all the legendary and fantastic diseases of ancient times, phthiriasis, or the lousy (lisease, wvas the most intriguing and bizarre. In the corrupted humours of the sufferers of this disease, lice were believed to develop by spontaneous generation, and tumours full of these insects rose on the skin.
Organizing the Greed for Gain. Alfonso X of Spain’s Law on Gambling Houses
The “Ordenamiento de las tafurerias” is a law code about gambling, established by a certain Maestre Roldan in 1276 or 1277 CE (1314 / 1315 era hisp.)by command of King Alfonso X of Castile. It represents the most detailed and exhaustive regulation of gambling from the Middle Ages, providing useful information about the practice of gambling, the presumed or real problems connected to it, and the measures taken by authorities.
The Anonymous Old English Legend of the Seven Sleepers and its Latin Source
The earliest extended treatment of the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in a
western vernacular language is the anonymous Old English prose version preserved
in British Library MS Cotton Julius E vii…
Florence Cathedral: The Design Stage
No list of the outstanding Gothic monuments of Europe could fail to include the Cathedral of Florence, yet its place in medieval architecture remains anomalous. Anomalous above all is its unprecedented design, which integrates a rib-vaulted basilica, a domed octagon, and a triconch of fifteen extruded chapels.
Anesthesia Drugs in the Medieval Muslim Era
In the Middle Ages, Christian Europe was in a state of intellectual stagnation and the theological doctrine that pain serves God’s purpose and must not be alleviated militated against the improvement in methods of narcosis. Nuland points out that the Middle Ages in Europe were dark ages so far as advances in the pharmacology of anesthesia were concerned.
Dungeons, but no dragons: new video game wants to give a realistic portrayal of the Middle Ages
A group of Czech video game makers have already raised over £430,000 on Kickstarter to create Kingdom Come: Deliverance, a RPG that will allow players to quest and fight in a more historically-realistic medieval world.
A fascinating musical instrument
A fascinating musical instrument Saadat Abdullayeva IRS Heritage: No.9 (2012) Abstract Among the Eastern musical instruments, the UD has a very interesting history…
Figures of Evil in Old English Poetry
One of the ways, according to the Church Fathers, in which those guilty of mortal sin manifested their spiritual corruption was in their perverted imitation of the good.
Book Review: The Cross and the Dragon, by Kim Rendfeld
Rendfeld skillfully presents what might have been facts, and entertains the reader at the same time.
St. Brendan and his miraculous food: heavenly meals for a legendary voyage
Therefore, the so called Navigatio Sancti brendani abbatis features real persons in an imaginary world, where credible details and legendary traits mingle with each other
Lay Preaching and the Lollards of Norwich Diocese, 1428-1431
The following case-study of Lollards in Norwich diocese is in two parts. The basis for the study is a collection of records of heresy trials in the diocese of Norwich from 2 1428 to 1431.
The Canterbury Tales as Framed Narratives
Although I think that the notion of modern art as organic must be qualified and questioned, there is a certain force and validity to Jordan’s distinction between medieval and modern art. Modern art expects the parts to be somewhat subordinate to the whole. The dominant stress of New Criticism was on the organic nature of art.
Laxdæla Dreaming: A Saga Heroine Invents Her Own Life
As palpably true as the interpretation is, even before the truth of Gestr’s fourfold prophecy is confirmed by what follows, this dream narrative is not merely a symbolic illustration of the future. It raises many other questions, and in this paper I will discuss some of the ambiguities of GuQrun Osvifrsdottir and her four dreams.