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Medieval Books for Christmas

Medievalists.net — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 19:16:54 +0000

It's that time of year again - the mad scramble for the perfect Christmas gift for the historian, nerd, avid reader on your list. Here are a few suggestions for you - new releases for December and January!

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Charlemagne’s Denarius, Constantine’s Edicule, and the Vera Crux

Medievalists.net — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 00:46:53 +0000

In 806 a much-discussed silver denarius bearing the likeness of Charlemagne was issued. This is called the “temple-type” coin due to the (as yet unidentified) architectural structure illustrated on the reverse side, and which is explicitly labeled as representing the epitome of “Christian Religion.”

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Hagiography and the Experience of the Holy in the Work of Gregory of Tours

Medievalists.net — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 03:33:37 +0000

The rich literature associated with the Desert Fathers provides convincing evidence of the important role played by charismatic figures in the transformation of Late Antiquity.

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Competition and tradition: Carolingian political rituals, 751-800

Medievalists.net — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 20:19:35 +0000

In 751, the Carolingians supplanted the traditional ruling dynasty of Francia. This article surveys Carolingian political rituals between 751 and 800, and argues that ritual was one means through which this new royal family sought to construct and legitimate its authority against its dynastic competitors.

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Hungary’s Conversion to Christianity: The Establishment of Hungarian Statehood and its Consequences to the Thirteenth Century

Medievalists.net — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:21:06 +0000

The Carpathian Basin occupies a peculiar place in history. It was the ground where Roman-Germanic world met that of the Slavs and mounted nomad peoples, where no group had achieved sustained unity before the state of Hungary was founded.

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The Birth of the Monarchy out of Violent Death

Medievalists.net — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 01:31:56 +0000

There were many motives for murdering a king.

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Enemy and Ancestor: Viking Identities and Ethnic Boundaries in England and Normandy, c.950 – c.1015

Medievalists.net — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 16:14:42 +0000

This thesis is a comparison of ethnicity in Viking Age England and Normandy. It focuses on the period c.950-c.1015, which begins several generations after the initial Scandinavian settlements in both regions.

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Goths, Lombards, Romans, and Greeks: Creating Identity in Early Medieval Italy

Medievalists.net — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:26:44 +0000

This essay explores how two different non-Roman historians represented the past to their peoples: the Gothic historian Jordanes’ sixth-century work, the Getica, and the eighth-century Lombard historian Paul the Deacons’ History of the Lombards.

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The Uses Made of History by the Kings of Medieval England

Medievalists.net — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 10:15:35 +0000

The kings of medieval England, besides using history for the entertainment of themselves and their courts, turned it to practical purposes. They plundered history-books for precedents and other evidences to justify their claims and acts. They also recognised its value as propaganda, to bolster up their positions at home and strengthen their hands abroad.

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The Tale of Bealhildis or how an Anglian slave became a saintly French Queen

Medievalists.net — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 17:19:52 +0000

It is not every day England gives a home girl to be worshipped as a Saint by enthusiastic Gallic crowds.

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