A copy of the Aberdeen Breviary, one of the first printed books in Scotland, has been purchased by the National Library of Scotland and is now available to read online.
10 Things to See at Southwark Cathedral
September 24, 2014 By
My 10 favourite things about Southwark Cathedral.
Fast and Feast – Christianization through the Regulation of Everyday Life
September 7, 2014 By
This article will illustrate that an important part of rulers’ wish to create a Christian society was the introduction of Christian legislation.
Europe and the beginning of Scottish sovereignty
September 6, 2014 By
Scotland’s story may have been distinctive, but its experience was not.
Objections to Episcopal Elections in England, 1216-1272
August 21, 2014 By
Objections to Episcopal Elections in England, 1216-1272 Katherine Harvey Nottingham Medieval Studies: 55 (2011), pp. 125-48 Abstract In August 1228, following the death of Stephen Langton, the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury assembled to elect his successor. Their choice was quickly made: within a month of Langton’s death Walter of Eynsham, a member of the […]
Women’s Devotional Bequests of Textiles in the Late Medieval English Parish Church, c.1350-1550
August 18, 2014 By
My investigation is set within the context of the current high level of interest in the workings of the late medieval parish.
Amending the Ascetic: Community and Character in the Old English Life of St. Mary of Egypt
August 12, 2014 By
Among the most eligible saints for such treatment, Mary of Egypt deserves particular consideration: her popularity is evidenced by over a hundred extant Greek manuscripts of her Life and her uniquely prominent position in the Lenten liturgical cycle in the Eastern Church.
Redating the East-West Schism: An Examination of the Impact of the Sack of Constantinople in 1204
August 12, 2014 By
Although 1054 is indeed the date most often found on timelines and in textbooks—and therefore the date most often memorized by students of the medieval period—the majority of modern scholars recognize that the East-West Schism was in fact, as Timothy Ware writes, “something that came about gradually, as the result of a long and complicated process.”
The Myth of Pope Joan
August 6, 2014 By
The legend of Pope Joan is a myth whose origins can be traced to papal politics in the thirteenth century.
Norse Influences in the Organisation of the Medieval Church in the Western Isles
August 5, 2014 By
In its definitive form of a system of local churches serving identifiable districts, usually known as parishes, grouped together under a diocesan bishop, the medieval church cannot be said to have existed in the general area of Scotland until the twelfth century. At this time, and for some three centuries previously, the islands to the north and west, with parts of the adjacent mainland, were under Norse control.
Saints’ Cults in Medieval Livonia
August 3, 2014 By
Saints’ cults played a crucial role in medieval society. Although we know very little about the beliefs and rituals of the indigenous peoples of Livonia, either before or after the thirteenth-century conquest, we may assume that the process of Christianization must have caused major changes in their religious practices.
Pope vs State: The Medieval Catholic Church as an International Governmental Organization
June 16, 2014 By
The object of this thesis is to understand the nature of these power struggles and to demonstrate that the medieval Church functioned in many ways like a prototype IGO.
Royal and Magnate Bastards in the Later Middle Ages: The View from Scotland
June 15, 2014 By
Theory and Practice in Scotland and Elsewhere Medieval Scotland’s law on bastardy is set out in the lawbook Regiam Majestatem (c.1320)…In England things were different, as Michael Hicks has demonstrated. Admittedly, English heraldic practice eventually followed the French, and the formula ‘X bastard of Y’ is occasionally found for magnates’ bastards.
John of Gaunt and John Wyclif
June 14, 2014 By
Historians have always been somewhat puzzled at the alliance of two such men as John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster and third son of Edward III, and John Wyclif, controversialist and reformer.
A Clergyman out of Control: Portray of a Bishop Around the Year 1000
June 3, 2014 By
The following short article is about actions of bishops and their interpretation as they are illustrated in the genre Gesta episcoporum.
Medieval Religious, Religions, Religion
May 23, 2014 By
This article sketches the most important shift in medieval religious history over the past few decades: the transition from ‘church history’ to ‘the history of religious culture.’
What if Arianism had won?
May 4, 2014 By
The fourth annual Princeton in Europe Lecture — Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch asks ‘What if Arianism had won?’
BOOKS: Canterbury Cathedral
May 4, 2014 By
After visiting Canterbury Cathedral, I was inspired to suggest books that relate to Canterbury’s famous Archbishops, history and beauty.
Community Conflict and Collective Memory in the Late Medieval Parish Church
May 1, 2014 By
What role does conflict play in the formation of community identity? And how do powerful, even violent, moments sustain that identity throughout centuries of change and transformation?
Chronicles and historiography: the interrelationship of fact and fiction
April 12, 2014 By
This paper indicates some of the challenges posed by fourteenth-century chronicles while focusing on contemporary testimonies about Clement V, pope between 1305 and 1314.
How to Win Friends and Influence People: Medieval Bishops edition
April 8, 2014 By
‘To be a bishop during this time was to be a leader who might crown kings or provoke a rebellion. So the question we’re asking is, if you wanted to become a bishop, who did you need to know?’
Monasticism and the Royal Abbey of Saint Denis
April 6, 2014 By
Saint‐Denis seems to occupy a curious place in French history: never has there been a church so revered and yet so reviled.
The Spread Out of Arianism: A Critical Analysis of the Arian Heresy
March 25, 2014 By
On this paper I will focus on the Arian heresy, trying to show how this heresy spread out on the Roman Empire and how it kept his strength for many century on the spiritual formation of some people.
Unpleasant Affairs That Please Us: Admonition and Rebuke in the Letter Collections of the Archbishops of Canterbury, 11th and 12th Centuries
March 23, 2014 By
From the Norman Conquest in 1066 up to the famous “murder in the cathedral”2 in 1170, six archbishops of Canterbury ruled over the English church…
Badia Burning: The Spectacle of Violence in 14th-century Tuscany
March 17, 2014 By
The theme of this paper is the use of ecclesiastical properties as sites of theatrical violence, and violence as a major element in the complex discourse between powerful rural lords and the Florentine commune.
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