Medievalists.net » Aquinas

Neither Cursed Nor Possessed: Mental Abnormality in the Late Middle Ages

Medievalists.net — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 19:39:21 +0000

I plan to address the more formal ecclesiastical proscriptions regarding mental abnormality.

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Defenders of the Faith: Augustine, Aquinas, and the Evolution of Medieval Just War Theory

Medievalists.net — Tue, 19 May 2015 22:27:32 +0000

Christianity has always had a difficult relationship with the concept of war. After all, it is impossible to follow Christ’s command to 'love one’s neighbor' on the battlefield.

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To See with the Eyes of the Soul: Memory and Visual Culture in Medieval Europe

Medievalists.net — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 03:16:24 +0000

In this article I shall therefore take a closer look at how people thought about the subject of memory and why memory was considered so important in the Middle Ages.

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God is Great, God is Good: Medieval Conceptions of Divine Goodness and the Problem of Hell

Medievalists.net — Sat, 27 Dec 2014 01:01:41 +0000

The medieval notions of goodness and hell seem to make God more a sadistic torturer than a caring parent.

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Aquinas on Torture

Medievalists.net — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 06:45:40 +0000

Here we are faced with something that, for this writer at least, is something of an enigma. It does not appear that Aquinas approved of this practice. Nowhere does he defend it, although he explicitly defends putting heretics to death.

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Petrus Hispanus (circa 1215-1277) and ‘The Treasury of the Poor’

Medievalists.net — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 11:26:37 +0000

The identity of Petrus Hispanus is a matter of some controversy. Part of the problem is centred on the fact that 'Hispanus' covers the general region of the Iberian Peninsula, referred to in medieval times as 'las Españas' (the Spains), incorporating both present day Spain and Portgual.

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Narratives of resistance: arguments against the mendicants in the works of Matthew Paris and William of Saint-Amour

Medievalists.net — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:27:22 +0000

The rise of the new mendicant orders, foremost the Franciscans and Dominicans, is one of the great success stories of thirteenth-century Europe. Combining apostolic poverty with sophisticated organization and university learning, they brought much needed improvements to pastoral care in the growing cities.

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The Friars Preachers: The First Hundred Years of the Dominican Order

Medievalists.net — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 00:40:55 +0000

When Dominic of Caleruega began preaching in southern France in the early 1200s, he would have had no idea of the far reaching influence that the band of men he would attract would leave such a broad and enduring influence on medieval history.

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Women’s Devotional Bequests of Textiles in the Late Medieval English Parish Church, c.1350-1550

Medievalists.net — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 09:59:34 +0000

My investigation is set within the context of the current high level of interest in the workings of the late medieval parish.

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Two Rabbinic Views of Christianity in the Middle Ages

Medievalists.net — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 01:17:50 +0000

In the sessions of our section over the past decade, I introduced a significant distinction between two rabbinic attitudes in the Mediterranean countries during the Middle Ages of 12th and 13th centuries as to their view of Christianity.

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