A summary of a paper given by Professor Christina Lee at the University of Nottingham’s “Making the Medieval Relevant” Conference.
Making the Medieval Relevant: Crossing Boundaries: Interdisciplinary Studies on Disease and Disability
November 20, 2015 By
Masculinity and Crusade: the influence of martial activity in the Latin East on Norman and Frankish warrior identity, the material culture, c. 1095-1300
November 7, 2015 By
This dissertation argues that masculine identity in the era of the Crusades developed with Christological and martial focus.
Grief, Gender and Mourning in Medieval North Atlantic Literature
October 28, 2015 By
This dissertation explores the relationship between grief, cultural constructs of gender, and mourning behaviour in the literatures of medieval Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Iceland
Movie Review: Dangerous Beauty
August 28, 2015 By
Late 16th century Venice, where a woman can be a nun, a wife or a courtesan. For Veronica Franco, the free spirited girl scorned by because of her lack of wealth, the choice is an obvious one…
Prostitution in the Medieval City
July 21, 2015 By
Prostitution was a vice that was was considered a necessary evil because of “men’s lust”. Ecclesiastics felt that if brothels weren’t available to men in cities, they would find other inappropriate outlets for their entertainment. In an effort to curb potential problems, civic officials permitted prostitution to function within the city walls so long as it was regulated and turned a profit.
When Reality Becomes Fantasy: How Video Games are Hijacking the Middle Ages
July 15, 2015 By
“The Middle Ages is a space where White Supremecy is legitimised. The maintenance of white privilege. The gamer community use ‘historical facts’ to legitimise this kind of literacy.’
Genre Medievalisms: Geek Goes Chic!
June 4, 2015 By
Is Cersei a collection of bad medieval stereotypes? Have nerds gone mainstream? Were American cowboys a modern retelling of the medieval knight? Put down that comic, put away your bag of dice, and indulge your inner nerd.
Papers on Medieval Prosopography: Session #47 at KZOO 2015
May 29, 2015 By
Three fantastic papers on Prosopography from #KZOO2015.
10 Cool Facts about Saint Catherine
April 22, 2015 By
Saint Catherine of Alexandria and her wheel have been well recognized symbols since the beginning of the Middle Ages. Here are 10 interesting tidbits about Saint Catherine:
Books of Art: 20 Medieval and Renaissance Women Reading
April 12, 2015 By
I love to read. I also love books depicted in art. I became fascinated with Medieval and Renaissance pictures of women reading or with books. I noticed while I was walking around the National Gallery, Musèe Cluny and the Louvre recently that there are many beautiful images of women reading or with books. Saints, sinners, and laywomen; I wanted to share a few of my favourites. Here are 20 works of art of women and their books
Medieval Books for Christmas
December 15, 2014 By
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!
Medievalism and the Fantasy Heroine
December 13, 2014 By
While the reliance of the fantasy market on medieval motifs – its reliance on medievalism, to be more precise – is not news, there remain a few thoughts to be articulated about the means by which so many popular female protagonists continue to have staying power and high market value within particular systems of power, systems familiar to the medievalist even when decontextualized, displaced and relocated elsewhere in the space–time continuum of the imagination.
How Witches Looked in Medieval Art
December 13, 2014 By
I recently visited the British Museum and enjoyed their Witches and Wicked Bodies exhibit which runs until January 11th, 2015. It displays art depicting witches from the middle ages up to the late nineteenth century. This post looks at a few late medieval interpretations of witches and the artists behind these works.
Raymund’s Daughter’s Divorce in the 9th-Century: a Woman’s Textual Role in the Breaking of an Alliance
November 23, 2014 By
This chapter will analyse an aspect of one of the divorce cases of the mid 9th century: I review its links with politics of the day and reconsider the roles given to wife and husband in the only text that deals with this case…
The Bones of St. Cuthbert: Defining a Saint’s Cult in Medieval Northumbria
November 19, 2014 By
This paper investigates the social, political, and religious changes and tensions which surrounded the cult of St. Cuthbert in medieval Northumbria. Specific comparisons are made between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods in English history, and how St. Cuthbert’s cult responded to the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Skirts and Politics: The Cistercian Monastery of Harvestehude and the Hamburg City Council
November 14, 2014 By
In 1482, Catharina Arndes lifted up her skirts in front of the archbishop’s chaplain. She was a respectable townswoman from Hamburg, and her action was carried out in defense of the Cistercian monastery of Harvestehude which was close to the city and where several of Catharina’s nieces lived as nuns.
Transvestites in the Middle Ages
November 11, 2014 By
An examination of the lives of the transvestite saints whose legends and myths help set Western attitudes toward transvestism.
Constructing social identity in Renaissance Florence: Botticelli’s ‘Portrait of a Lady’
November 6, 2014 By
This study scrutinizes a work within a neglected portion of Botticelli’s oeuvre, examining the ways in which its modest, and somewhat ambiguous, visual cues also construct its sitter’s elevated social identity, while simultaneously protecting it.
The Hero’s Journey: Beowulf, Film, and Masculinity
November 2, 2014 By
Beowulf is one of many examples of a story that employs the rhetoric of the hero. The plight of the main character Beowulf is the focus of the tale, and the tasks that he must overcome throughout the course of the poem provide insight into the development of the character of the hero.
Crafting the witch: Gendering magic in medieval and early modern England
November 2, 2014 By
This project documents and analyzes the gendered transformation of magical figures occurring in Arthurian romance in England from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries.
Late Medieval Knight Reflecting on his Public Life: Hugo de Urriés (c. 1405-c. 1493), Diplomacy and Translating the Classics
October 22, 2014 By
This article focuses on Aragonese courtier Hugo de Urriés’s public profile by means of analyzing the critical points derived from examining his personal, political, cultural and historical stands making use of an invaluable primary source, his letter to Fernando the Catholic in the early 1490s.
The Gendered Nose and its Lack: ‘Medieval’ Nose-Cutting and its Modern Manifestations
October 15, 2014 By
Rather clearer is its connection with patriarchal values of authority and honor: the victims of such punishment have not always been women, but this is nevertheless a gendered punishment of the powerless by the powerful.
‘There is more to the story than this, of course’: Character and Affect in Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen
October 13, 2014 By
Philippa Gregory has critiqued gendered representations of Elizabeth Woodville and has stated that her 2009 novel The White Queen fictionalises Woodville’s history with the aim of challenging such depictions.
Gender and Matrimonial Litigation in the Church Courts in the Later Middle Ages: The Evidence of the Court of York
October 8, 2014 By
If some later medieval males thought the courts were biased, what might the female perspective have been?
Grainne Uaile: The Movie
September 10, 2014 By
An up and coming movie about Grace O’ Malley (Grainne Uaile), Ireland’s famous female pirate!
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