This paper appraises place pilgrimage to Jerusalem in two late-medieval English texts: The Itineraries of William Wey and The Book of Margery Kempe.
How to travel to the physical and heavenly Jerusalem without leaving home
June 16, 2015 By
By the fifteenth century numerous accounts of the holy places circulated in Western Europe, many of them in Latin, a few in various vernaculars such as French and Middle Dutch.
Medieval cesspit in Jerusalem reveals 15th century diseases
March 20, 2015 By
Analysis of a latrine in Jerusalem that dates back over 500 years finds human parasites common in northern Europe yet very rare in Middle East at the time, suggesting long-distance trade or pilgrimage routes and shedding light on prevalent infectious diseases of the age.
‘De civitatis utriusque, terrenae scilicet et caelestis’: Foundation Narratives and the Epic Portrayal of the First Crusade
December 5, 2014 By
My summary of a paper given at the Institute of Historical research on the accounts of Antioch and Jerusalem during the First Crusade.
Charlemagne’s Denarius, Constantine’s Edicule, and the Vera Crux
December 1, 2014 By
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.”
An aspect of Alcuin: ‘Tuus Albinus’ – peevish egotist? or parrhesiast?
October 28, 2014 By
In over 270 letters from about a decade and a half, alcuin of york (†804) informed, advised, consoled and admonished contemporaries, reacted to current events, and maintained a circle of friends and partners in reciprocal prayer that extended from Jerusalem to Ireland and from rome to salzburg. Alcuin left york in the 780s to become a friend and chief advisor to Charlemagne.
Medicine and surgery in the Livre des Assises de la Cour des Bourgeois de Jérusalem
September 15, 2014 By
The Livre des Assises, written in the thirteenth century in Acre, not only provides insights into the practice of medicine and surgery in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also suggests that the licensing and regulation of doctors reflected contemporary Islamic practice.
The Journey of Charles I, King of Hungary, from Visegrád to Naples (1333): Its Political Implications and Artistic Consequences
September 1, 2014 By
The aim of this article is to reconstruct the journey of Charles I, King of Hungary (1310– 1342), from Visegrád to Naples in the year 1333.
An Unknown Female Martyr from Jerusalem
June 21, 2014 By
In the present article we edit the fragment of a text related to an unnamed female new martyr from Jerusalem from the time of John XIII.
BOOK REVIEW: “Defending the City of God” : A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem, by Sharan Newman
May 9, 2014 By
This is my review of Sharan Newman’s latest book, Defending the City of God: A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem.
Mass Pilgrimage and the Christological Context of the First Crusade
April 6, 2014 By
The importance of Jerusalem as a holy city for Christians serves as a starting point for understanding the motivations of eleventh-century pilgrims.
Movement Through Stillness: Imagined Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe
March 16, 2014 By
This paper examines the phenomenon of ‘spiritual’ or ‘imagined’ pilgrimage in Medieval Europe.
Asserting Political Authority in a Sacred Landscape: A Comparison of Umayyad and Israeli Jerusalem
February 17, 2014 By
Maintenance of authority is of course the end goal, but how does political leadership ‘build’ political authority in the first place?
The Charlemagne Window at Chartres Cathedral: New Considerations on Text and Image
November 24, 2013 By
The Charlemagne Window, justly considered one of the most beautiful of the history windows of Chartres Cathedral, is located in the northeastern intermediate radial chapel and can probably be dated to about 1225.
Melisende: A True Queen
October 13, 2013 By
This leads us to our primary question: did Melisende rule as a political entity during this time?
Rivers of Blood: An Analysis of One Aspect of the Crusader Conquest of Jerusalem in 1099
October 6, 2013 By
The blood that was spilled in the massacre of Jerusalem was real; the rivers of it that course down the pages of modern newspapers and popular books are not.
Byzantine golden treasures discovered in Jerusalem
September 10, 2013 By
Archaeologists working at the foot of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem have discovered a large haul of treasure from the remains of a Byzantine-era building
Crusader hospital discovered in Jerusalem
August 8, 2013 By
The remains of a large hospital from the Crusader period have been discovered in the heart of Old Jerusalem, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. Later this year the public will be to visit part of the structure when the site is turned into a restaurant.
Holy Meditations and Earthly Curiosities: Understanding Late Medieval Pilgrims to Jerusalem
July 22, 2013 By
There were many worthy sites along the way, destinations in themselves, but Jerusalem in particular was unrivaled. It lured pilgrims to face death just to stand upon Mountjoy, that fabled vantage point overlooking the city.
Cross relationships between Cyprus and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Teutonic Military Order Tradition
April 1, 2013 By
This article will shed new light on the relationships and connections that developed between members of the Teutonic Order based in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and various elements of the population on the island of Cyprus.
Monarchy and nobility in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1131: establishment and origins
February 22, 2013 By
The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, established by the victorious crusaders in Palestine in July 1099, was one of the first colonial societies of the Middle Ages.
Querimonia desolacionis terre sancte – The fall of Acre and the Holy Land in 1291 as an emotional element in the Teutonic Order tradition
December 24, 2012 By
Those Military Orders − the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights, along with other Military Orders, had shed their blood across the Latin Kingdom and suffered many casualties in the final siege which took place in Acre between March and May 1291.
The Evolution of the Saladin Legend in the West
November 18, 2012 By
William of Tyreʼs account of the history of the Crusades stops suddenly in 1184. As he lays down his pen he is in despair at the inevitable outcome which he foresees for the struggle with Saladin. It was fortunate for him that he did not live to see the triumph of Saladin at Hattin and Jerusalem. Williamʼs judgement of Saladin, there- fore, is one of fear and admiration but he is also able to criticize his faults, especially his ruthless ambition.
Salutare Animas Nostras: The Ideologies Behind the Foundation of the Templars
November 18, 2012 By
The meteoric rise of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon (more commonly known as the Knights Templar) and their equally swift fall has fueled fanciful tales and scholarly research. The order promoted their mythological origins and the extreme charges leveled against them by Philip IV of France (1285-1314) created an atmosphere of speculation.
Religion, Warfare and Business in Fifteenth Century Rhodes
October 25, 2012 By
How did a military-monastic order manage the resources of an island commercially asimportant as that of Rhodes while overcoming the limitations due to its patrimonial struc-tureto cover their defensive needs? In this essay weattempt to answer this question interms of practice and in the light of relationsthatthe Knights maintained with two distinctgroups of merchants: the Catalan-Aragonese and the Florentines.
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