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Hagiography Archive
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The Privileging of Visio over Vox in the Mystical Experiences of Hildegard of Bingen and Joan of Arc
Posted on May 25, 2013 | No CommentsEven though medieval women mystics have enjoyed increased attention in recent scholarly discussion, a topic that still has not been tackled is the possible difference between seeing a vision and hearing a voice during a mystical experience -
The Still Lives of Medieval Objects
Posted on May 25, 2013 | No CommentsDiscussions of the relationship between time and medieval artworks often hinge on examinations of use and reception: how has the meaning of this object changed over time? -
Magic in English Thirteenth-Century Miracle Collections
Posted on April 29, 2013 | No CommentsThis contribution focuses on miracle collections as a source for medieval magic for three reasons. The first is the very closeness of magic and miracles, for both seek to procure results which transcend nature, and to do this through the medium of a human practitioner. -
“Becoming Mary of the Gael”
Posted on April 19, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper focused on the comparison of St. Brigit and the Virgin Mary in early Irish texts. -
Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland
Posted on March 26, 2013 | No CommentsBy all accounts, Margaret was a beautiful, blond Saxon princess in her twenties who was educated and had learned the art of being a royal wife from Edward’s Queen Edith. -
Relics and Reliquaries in the Vita Germani Auctore Constantio : the Capsula
Posted on March 24, 2013 | No CommentsIt is the sporadic presence of the term capsula in the Vita Germani, and in other texts contemporary to it, which indicates its importance in the history of Christian costume as described by Constantius. In what follows, I shall demonstrate through literary comparisons and historical linguistics how such an affirmation is not, in fact, a contradiction at all. -
Project on the medieval saints in Wales receives £775 000 in funding
Posted on March 18, 2013 | No CommentsA project to better understand the history of medieval saints in Wales and created new online resources has been award more than three-quarters of a million points by The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). -
The History of Saint Patrick – a Short Story
Posted on March 17, 2013 | No CommentsSt. Patrick was born, not in Ireland, but in Britian around AD 387. Well, actually, he wasn't called St. Patrick at the time, or even Patrick, but was referred to as Maewyn Succat. -
Abelard’s Legacy: Why Theology is not Faith Seeking Understanding
Posted on March 17, 2013 | No CommentsIn this paper I will challenge the common definition of the theological task as faith seeking understanding, where the faith of a tradition commandeers the critical enquiry of the theologian. -
Reconsidering the Health Care Provider: Lessons from Medieval Miracle Accounts
Posted on March 13, 2013 | No CommentsUsing medieval canonization inquests, Archambeau will try to answer the seemingly simple question: What did people do when they were sick? -
Narratives of the saintly body in Anglo-Saxon England
Posted on March 10, 2013 | No CommentsThis dissertation investigates narratives of the saintly body in Anglo-Saxon England. Specifically, it examines the ways in which the bodies of holy men and women were constructed through such narratives and read in local appropriations of emblematic vitae and passiones. -
The Vínland sagas as propaganda for the Christian Church
Posted on March 10, 2013 | No CommentsOver the last two centuries, the Vínland Sagas have become some of the most discussed of Medieval Nordic documents. There are arguments about every aspect of the sagas: What the name Vínland means, if Vínland existed, where it would have been geographically, and how much of their content is historically accurate. -
The Welsh Female Saint: Patterns within a Social Framework
Posted on March 2, 2013 | No CommentsHistoria Divae Monacellae, the Latin Life of Melangell is also comparatively late in composition, with the earliest manuscript being from the 16th century, but possibly drawing on earlier written sources.3 When we look at the availability of written texts relating to male saints the difference in source material is immediately evident. -
The ‘Prehistory’ of Gregory of Tours: An Analysis of Books I-IV of Gregory’s Histories
Posted on February 11, 2013 | No CommentsIn northern Gaul in the second half of the sixth century, a bishop of Tours, Georgius Florentius Gregorius, known to posterity as Gregory of Tours, composed eight books of hagiography and ten books of history. These testaments survive as evidence of the politics, society and theology of this post-imperial world. -
From Anglorum basileus to Norman Saint: The Transformation of Edward the Confessor
Posted on February 10, 2013 | No CommentsIn the following pages I explore the transformation of the visual and textual expression of Edward's rule (1043-66) through the reign of Henry II (1154-89). -
Literal and Symbolic: the Language of Asceticism in Two Lives of St Radegund
Posted on February 10, 2013 | No CommentsSince Radegund was never martyred, it is through her ascetic practice, a vicarious martyrdom, that her sanctity must be constructed. Both Fortunatus and Baudonivia treat Radegund's ascetic practices as a means of creating the powerful body of a saint, a living relic, but the differences in the two writers' approaches are notable. -
Making the martyr: the liturgical persona of Saint Thomas Becket in visual imagery
Posted on February 10, 2013 | No CommentsHow was the historical figure of the worldly chancellor reconciled to the saintly archbishop who was martyred for his faith on the floor of Canterbury Cathedral? One of the most important vehicles of expression in the Middle Ages was the liturgy. -
The Legendary Fate of Pontius Pilate
Posted on February 8, 2013 | No CommentsThe Christian texts can be divided into two separate branches: the Western textual tradition written in Latin usually demonizes Pilate, while in the Eastern tradition Pilate’s character has totally metamorphosed: the praefectus became a confessor, saint, and martyr of the Church. -
Medieval enchantment techniques: St Christopher and the Siren
Posted on January 31, 2013 | No CommentsThe traditional image of St Christopher, which was particularly frequent in the Middle Ages, portrays him crossing the waters of a river while he is carrying the child Jesus on his shoulder. -
Scottish saints cults and pilgrimage from the Black Death to the Reformation, c.1349-1560
Posted on January 15, 2013 | No CommentsThis thesis will question this premise and provide the first indepth study of the cults of St Andrew, Columba of Iona/Dunkeld, Kentigern of Glasgow and Ninian of Whithorn in a late medieval Scottish context, as well as the lesser known northern saint, Duthac of Tain. -
Princess Salomea and Hungarian – Polish Relations in the Period 1214 – 1241
Posted on January 9, 2013 | No CommentsIt is necessary to say at the beginning that almost all works devoted to Salomea come from the pens of Polish historians. Slovak and Hungarian historiography has devoted little attention to her, in spite of the fact that she played a part in the history of the Kingdom of Hungary. -
Mummified saints of the Northern Croatian Littoral
Posted on January 8, 2013 | No CommentsEuropean mummies occupy a significant place among the world known mummies. -
Transvestites, Saints, Wives, and Martyrs: The Lives of female saints as read by fifteenth-century Florentine women
Posted on January 7, 2013 | No CommentsAn examination of the lives of female saints taken from the highly popular vernacular Vite dei santi padri written by Domenico Cavalca (c.1270-1342) and the ways women in quattrocento Florence may have been reading them. -
Joan of Arc: Christian Heretic, Christian Saint
Posted on December 30, 2012 | No CommentsJoan of Arc was the French hero of the Hundred Years War and the catalyst who tipped the war in favor of the French after a series of disheartening English victories. -
Pilgrimage and Embodiment: Captives and the Cult of Saintsin Late Medieval Bavaria
Posted on December 24, 2012 | No CommentsChief among the stories contained in these miracle stories are tales of escapes from captivity. Almost forty percent of the reports in the two Munich Latin miracle collections deal with liberations from imprisonment and escapes from captivity of various sorts.