New Medieval Books: Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018
Celebrating the New Year by taking a look at these five new books on the Middle Ages.
A Medieval Man’s New Year’s Resolutions
In the diary of Gregorio Dati, an Italian merchant born in the fourteenth century, we can see resolutions tied to this urge to face a new year as a better man in an entry dated January 1, 1404.
Medieval sunken buildings in the North of France: from samples to micro-features
Thirty years of development of preventative archaeology in France have permitted a renewal of the research into the early medieval period.
Remembrance of things past: recreating the lost world of medieval pilgrimage to St Thomas Becket in Canterbury
This paper discusses the Centre for the Study of Christianity & Culture’s recently completed a three-year AHRC funded research project, ‘Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals, past and present’.
Anti-Clericalism in Medieval Persian Poetry
The dominant attitude of the anti-clerical rhetoric in Persian poetry is permeated by criticism of judges, lawyers, aesthetics, spiritual advisors, and authority figures of that nature. This is one of the reasons that makes this poetry still relevant.
Medieval friary where Richard III was buried to be protected
The remains of a 13th century monastic site, Greyfriars in Leicester, which was the burial place of King Richard III, has been granted protection by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
Ruins of 8th century monument discovered in Mongolia
A joint excavation team from Osaka University and the Institute of History and Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences discovered the ruins of a unique monument surrounded by 14 large stone pillars with Turkic Runic inscriptions.
How the Pope’s rhino drowned and was immortalised in art history
The story of one of the most infamous gifts, and one of the most influential images in art history, has been brought back to life thanks to research at the University of Warwick.
The Anglo-Norman Vegetius: a thirteenth century translation of the “De re militari”
The De re militari of Flavius Vegetius Renatus was written and compiled towards the close of the fourth century. Dedicated to the reigning Emperor, the work is a military treatise describing the training, organization, tactics and strategy of the Roman army.
The Deeds of William of Villehardouin: An Annotated Translation of a Part of the Medieval Work, La Chronique de Morée
This thesis provides a translation of a portion of La Chronique de Morée, one of the remaining French texts from a period just following the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204).
The Ilkhanid Mongols, the Christian Armenians, and the Islamic Mamluks: a study of their relations, 1220-1335
This work seeks to fill a gap in the academic literature concerning the study of the Ilkhanid Mongols of the Middle East during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries CE using Armenian, Persian, Arabic, and Syriac primary sources in English translation.
Anglo-Saxon Medicine and Disease: A Semantic Approach
The main purpose of the examination is to determine the extent to which scholarly ideas concerning the nature of the human body and the causes of disease were preserved between the Latin texts and the English texts which were translated and compiled from them.
The World’s Saga: An English Translation of the Old Norse Veraldar saga, a History of the World in Six Ages
Veraldar saga is a medieval Icelandic prose universal history written in the Old Norse vernacular. It describes the history of the world divided into six “ages” from the Biblical creation narrative until the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa.
A Record of the Defense of Xiangyang’s City Wall, 1206-1207
The focus of this thesis is the annotated translation of a diary completed in 1207 by a low ranking military officer in the Southern Song army named Zhao Wannian.
The Arabic Letters of the Byzantine Emperor Leo III to the Caliph ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz: An Edition, Translation and Commentary
This study explores the tradition of the epistolary exchange between the two famous figures, the Byzantine emperor Leo III and the ‘Umayyad caliph, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz.
Power and Political Communication. Feasting and Gift Giving in Medieval Iceland
Unlike modern friendship, its medieval namesake was anything but a free and spontaneous practice, and neither were its primary modes and media of expression.
Exposing Virginal Bodies in Early Norman England
Although they reached toward the eternal, the saints and their biographers easily became entangled in worldly affairs, and in colonial contexts such as those of Norman England the saints could become pawns in monumental cultural, social, and political struggles.
Bringing Out the Saints: Journeys of Relics in Tenth to Twelfth Century Northern France and Flanders
This dissertation examines the practice of taking relics on out-and-back journeys to explore the consequences of temporarily removing these objects from the churches in which they were housed and displayed.
A mediaeval court physician at work: Ibn Jumayʿ’s commentary on the Canon of Medicine
Ibn Jumayʿ’s (d. c. 594/1198) commentary on the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sīnā (d. 428/1037) occupies an important place in the history of medicine for it is the first Canon commentary written by a physician and thus stands at the start of a tradition extending over 500 years.
Medieval Manuscripts: The Massacre of the Innocents and Flight into Egypt in the Bible moralisée of Naples
Taking a look at how the 14th century Bible moralisée of Naples portrays two episodes of Jesus’ life after his birth.
A Woman as Leader of Men: Joan of Arc’s Military Career
Though she was radically different from other contemporary military leaders, her troops followed her with a loyalty unsurpassed by any other late-medieval captain.
Dangers of Noncritical Use of Historical Plague Data
When scholars fail to apply source criticism or do not reflect on the content of the data they use, the reliability of their results becomes highly questionable.
Our Future is Our Past: Corporate Medievalism in Dystopian Fiction
Predictions of a return to the past have also inspired the dystopian visions of Octavia Butler’s Earthseed duology, Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake duology, and Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy
M.R. James: The Medievalist that Turned Ghost Storyteller
As a scholar in Medieval Studies M. R. James published countless works on medieval manuscripts and church history, but, perhaps most of all to his surprise, he is better known today for his ghost stories.
The Best Medieval Film: The Case for A Knight’s Tale
Making a medieval movie is a difficult task. Natalie Anderson discusses why, in her opinion, one of the best films set during the Middle Ages is 2001’s A Knight’s Tale.