Identity in History Episode 3: Medieval Religious Identities
Richard Godbehere examines the Autobiography of Guibert de Nogent: “Here we look at the definitions of Autobiography and a rare one written by a medieval monk, the narrative constructs behind the work and the identity we can glean from its pages.” Richard Godbehere describes himself as a student of Intellectual History (especially religious, supernatural, pseudoscientific and the history of anomalous ideas), Psychology (including Anomalistic Psychology) and memetics. Click here to see his Youtube channel.
Tolerance’s End: Religious Minorities, Philosophers, Free-Thinkers and the Rise of Fundamentalism in 12th and 13th Century Islamic Spain
Lecture by Lourdes Maria Alvarez, Acting Director of Medieval and Byzantine Studies at the Catholic University of America
Given on April 23, 2009 at the Catholic University of America
Explorations (and celebrations) of the so-called convivencia between Muslims, Christians and Jews in 10th- and 11th-century Spain have been the subject of an enormous amount of scholarship in the last 60 years. Far less attention has been paid to the complex interplay between competing religio-political understandings of Islamic military and economic decline and how these conflicts affected religious minority populations and the philosophers, mystics and intellectuals who would become the most visible targets of “fundamentalist” fury.
Lourdes Maria Alvarez is acting director of Medieval and Byzantine Studies at the Catholic University of America and an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. A graduate of Yale University, she has published on Islamic mysticism, intellectual history and literature in medieval Spain. Her book, Abu al-Hasan al-Shushtari: Songs of Love and Devotion published by Paulist Press.
From a small Italian community in 15th-century Florence, the Medici family would rise to rule Europe in many ways. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power.
They would also ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history–the European Renaissance. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world. An epic drama played out in the courts, cathedrals and palaces of Europe, this series is both the tale of one family’s powerful ambition and of Europe’s tortured struggle to emerge from the ravages of the dark ages.
A tale of one family’s powerful ambition and of Europe’s struggle to emerge from the ravages of the Dark Ages. Beginning in the 14th century, The Medici used charm, skill and ruthlessness to garner unparalleled wealth and power. Standing at the helm of the Renaissance, they ruled Europe for more than 300 years and inspired the great artists, scientists and thinkers who gave birth to the modern world.
We interviewed Bernard S. Bachrach (University of Minnesota) and David Bachrach (University of New Hampshire) who are father and son, and both professors of medieval history. We spoke with them at the 2010 International Congress on Medieval Studies, where we talked about how they became interested in medieval history, and some of the challenges they have as academics in researching, teaching and publishing.
We interviewed Robert of Swords4You.com, who sells medieval swords and other medieval replica products, and ask him for some tips about what kind of medieval swords one can buy, and what someone should look for when buying one of these weapons.
The Mosfell Archaeological Project is an interdisciplinary research project employing the tools of history, archaeology, anthropology, forensics, environmental sciences, and saga studies. The work is constructing a picture of human habitation and environmental change in the region of Mosfell in southwestern Iceland. The Mosfell Valley (Mosfellsdalur), the surrounding highlands, and the lowland coastal areas are a valley system, that is, as an interlocking series of natural and man-made pieces, that beginning in the ninth-century settlement or landnám period, developed into a functioning Viking Age Icelandic community. Focusing on this valley system, the task is to unearth the prehistory and early history of the region; to gather the data that provides an in-depth understanding of how this countryside or sveit evolved from its earliest origins. The Mosfell Archaeological Project has implications for the larger study of Viking Age and later medieval Iceland, as well as perhaps for the north Atlantic world.
The team behind the project developed a video entitlted A Viking Landscape about the project. It has been split up into six parts:
Video of Professor Thorlac Turville-Petre of the University of Nottingham discussing his study of literature from the Middle Ages. See more videos at http://www.youtube.com/ArtsPoint
Lecture by Helen C. Evans, Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
