What I propose to do in this lecture is to discuss some salient features of Late Antiquity as a category in historical studies and then move on to the theme of Islam in Late Antiquity
History as Wonder
August 24, 2014 By
Does the connection of wonder with changes and origins mean that history begins with wonder too?
The Stewart Earls of Orkney and the History of Orkney and Shetland
August 11, 2014 By
The Northern Isles have their own national, or at any rate quasi-national, historical tradition. It is quite separate from that of Scotland, though it is clearly connected to it; and it offers parallels to the nineteenth-century growth in historical consciousness elsewhere in the British Isles.
Boundaries in the making – Historiography and the isolation of late medieval Bohemia
July 27, 2014 By
This paper deals with an episode of early 15th century Bohemian history. During the so-called Hussite wars, a coalition of Catholic powers tried to establish a far-reaching blockade on trade and commerce against the kingdom of Bohemia, which then was considered to be a hotbed of heresy, and to be rebellious against its legitimate ruler and the papal church.
Galbert of Bruges’ ‘Journal’: From Medieval Flop to Modern Bestseller
July 23, 2014 By
Galbert’s text was an utter failure in the Middle Ages. No medieval copies of the journal survive and there is no reason to believe that more than one copy of it every existed during the period.
(Re)casting the Past: The Cloisters and Medievalism
July 22, 2014 By
In this essay, I focus on a variety of texts printed using Anglo-Saxon type between 1566 and 1623 in an effort to explore the use of Anglo-Saxon typeface in the early modern period as the use of the Old English language progressed from polemical truncheon to historiographical instrument.
Goths, Lombards, Romans, and Greeks: Creating Identity in Early Medieval Italy
July 16, 2014 By
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.
The secret histories of Gregory of Tours
July 9, 2014 By
In recent years the spiritual side of Gregory’s Histories has been firmly brought into focus, but the possibility that there may be a political aspect to them and to their literary form has been little considered
The Uses Made of History by the Kings of Medieval England
July 7, 2014 By
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.
CONFERENCES: Count Hugh of Troyes and the Crusading Nexus of Champagne
June 12, 2014 By
This is my summary of a paper given at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
Quid Tacitus . . . ? The Germania and the Study of Anglo-Saxon England
June 6, 2014 By
This paper considers the vexed historiography of Tacitus’s Germania and its reception history, first among German and other European historians and then among Anglo-Saxonists.
‘Warrior-women’ in Viking Age Scandinavia? A preliminary archaeological study
June 3, 2014 By
This paper seeks to provide a new contribution to the debates on Viking Age women by focusing on a rather controversial notion of ‘female warriors’. The core of the article comprises a preliminary survey of archaeological evidence for female graves with weapons (axes, spears, swords and arrowheads) from Viking Age Scandinavia.
Time, space and power in later medieval Bristol
May 26, 2014 By
With a population of almost 10,000, Bristol was later medieval England’s second or third biggest urban place, and the realm’s second port after London. While not particularly large or wealthy in comparison with the great cities of northern Italy, Flanders or the Rhineland, it was a metropolis in the context of the British Isles.
The 1066 Norwegian Invasion of England in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
May 24, 2014 By
The goal of this paper is to understand how the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle portrays the Norwegian Invasion of 1066 and how they characterize the Norwegians, particularly the figure of Haraldr Harðráði.
Ten Controversial Books about the Middle Ages
May 20, 2014 By
Ten books that can cause a stir among medievalists.
Truth or Consequences: Fiction vs Fact in Historical Research
May 19, 2014 By
When is a story a story and not a record of history?
Staging Medievalisms: Touching the Middle Ages through Contemporary Performance
May 13, 2014 By
Examining the Middle Ages through modern eyes: movies, TV, stage, tourism and books. How do we perform the Middle Ages?
Why do historians disagree? A comparison of biographies of Henry V
May 9, 2014 By
In this essay, I shall be examining what I feel are the main issues surrounding the problem of why historians do not agree whether Henry V was a good king.
Is the story of the Battle of Clontarf more fiction than fact?
April 25, 2014 By
The Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh is considered one of the most important sources about the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. However, new research is suggesting the tale is based more on the Trojan War than on historical sources.
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.
Books by Jacques Le Goff
April 8, 2014 By
Here are just a few of his books, which have been translated into English and offer a glimpse at one of the leading historians of the Middle Ages.
Bjarmaland and interaction in the North of Europe from the Viking Age until the Early Middle Ages
April 6, 2014 By
This article intends to look at interaction in the very north of early medi- eval Europe with Bjarmaland as a starting point. After a short introduction to sources and historiography about Bjarmaland, the main content of the sources will be shortly discussed in order to establish what kind of informa- tion the written sources have to offer.
Lords Of The North Sea: A Comparative Study Of Aristocratic Territory In The North Sea World In The Tenth And Eleventh Centuries
April 5, 2014 By
The paper is a comparative study on the aristocrats of eastern England, eastern Normandy, western Flanders and central Norway.
Jacques le Goff passes away at the age of 90
April 1, 2014 By
One of the world’s most important medieval historians, Jacques le Goff, passed away earlier today in Paris. Many medievalists will have read and been deeply influenced by his writings and scholarship.
The Origins of the Tale of the Blooddrinking Hungarians
March 29, 2014 By
The motif of the covenant of blood was quite widespread in West European chronicle literature, and it was not necessarily applied to Oriental peoples, nor particularly to Hungarians
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