Where the Middle Ages Begin
During Easter week in the early 390s Saint Ambrose preached a series of sermons to the newly baptized. Known by the title On the Mysteries, these sermons have often been studied for what one can learn about early Christian worship and sacramental theology
The notion of purgatory or a third place had great and direct impact on the way people thought because this third place was the immediate destination of the soul after death in the minds of most Christians. People imagined at death that this would be the next form of being.
To search out Ælfric’s sources is also to inquire into his method of composition, to guess at the principles that guided him to some sources and away from others. Malcolm Godden has provided a remarkably full list of Ælfric’s sources, and suggests that Ælfric relied on relatively few volumes to compose his homilies.
All Byzantine Christians were offered a choice between celibate asceticism and married life, but in either case they were called to anticipate in their lives the eschatological Kingdom of God.
Some of us still feel that an attempt to bring the old liturgy of the church to life again would transport us best of all across the centuries to Tudor times. For churches are built primarily for liturgy – it is their staple diet.
![Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 129v - The Holy Sacrament [of the Eucharist].](http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Folio_129v_-_The_Holy_Sacrament.jpeg)
To speak, then of a ‘Learned faith’ of the Middle Ages (or, for that matter, of any age) over and against a ‘Popular faith,’ as though it were a higher, purer form of faith, is hardly correct.
Fama et Memoria: Portraits of Female Patrons in Mosaic Pavements of Churches in ByzantinePalestine and Arabia Britt, Karen C. Medieval Feminist Forum, 44, no. 2 (2008) Abstract When we think of portraits that memorialize the contributions of female donors to the construction and adornment of Byzantine churches, or to support their liturgical functions, the images that […]
The Alphabetum catholicorum of Arnaldus of Villanova, an edition and study Burnam, Hope Lampert (university of Toronto) PhD Thesis, University of Toronto (1996) Abstract On the title page to the 1553 edition of his catechism, John Calvin defined a catechism as “a formulary for instructing children in Christianity set as a dialogue.” Although catechisms have […]
The Lord’s Prayer “Our Father” indicates Slovenians are West Slavs Jandáček, Petr Paper given at the Fifth International Topical Conference (2007) Abstract The currently held opinion of the political and academic communities is that Slovenians are South (Yugo) Slavs. While this concept is expedient and based on Slovenian proximity to, and recent communal history with and […]
Some Parallels in the Education of Medieval Jewish and Christian Women Baskin, Judith R. Jewish History, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring, 1991) Abstract We know too little about the education of European Jewish women during the Middle Ages. Our knowledge rests on only a few sources, Hebrew or otherwise. It may, however, be possible to […]
Beauty Illuminated: Illuminated manuscript paintings in Poland MIODOŃSKA, BARBARA (Czartoryski Museum and Library National Museum in Kraków), PALIŃSKA, ANNA (Institute of Art, Warsaw Polish Academy of Sciences) Research in Art History Academia, No.1 (9) (2006) Abstract The flakes of gold used in illustrating the initial letters in old manuscripts gave them a shining effect that gave […]
Encounters with Monsters at the End of Time: Some Early Medieval Visualizations ofApocalyptic Eschatology Lewis, Suzanne Different Visions: A Journal of New Perspectives on Medieval Art, Issue 2, June (2010) Abstract In our long history of interpreting apocalyptic images in medieval manuscripts, we have tended to resist the idea of eschatological expectation as a major creative force. […]
The Theology of Eucharistic Consecration: Role of the Priest in Celtic Liturgy By J.H. Crehan Theological Studies, Vol.42 (1979) Introduction: For a long time theologians have been swayed by the consensus of liturgists that, in the words of Edmund Bishop, “certitude as to the moment of consecration was only to be acquired by the common […]
Holy Week commemorates the last days of Christ’s earthly presence, from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his crucifixion and resurrection.
Music in the Time of Saint Anselm Cox, Donald R. (Saint Anselm College) The Saint Anselm Journal 2.1 (Fall 2004) Abstract The 11th century gave birth to a new artistic impulse as it also gave rise to original and systematic treatises about faith. St. Anselm, innovative theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury, contemplated the qualities of faith […]
“Historical” Dates in Medieval Liturgical Calendars By J. Frank Henderson Published Online (2004) Introduction: First and foremost, medieval liturgical calendars record occasions of liturgical celebration, for example, Easter, the “birthday” of a saint into heaven, the birth of Jesus or of John Baptist. The actual dates of the events being celebrated is secondary or even […]
VAGANTES CONFERENCE: Session 1: Performance & Ritual The Performance of Separation at Escomb Church Ashely Lonsdale Cook (University of Wisconsin – Madison) This paper was part of a case study in Ms. Cook’s doctoral thesis which focuses on one of the few intact Anglo-Saxon stone churches. Cook focused on the use of curtains as spacial […]
The making of Byzantine Orthodoxy: definition and display, inclusion and exclusion Magdalino, Paul (St Andrew’s University, Scotland) Paper given at the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies (2006) Abstract Orthodoxy means ‘right belief’, ‘correct theological doctrine’; to its adherents, it represents immutable, universal truth. Yet the convener and the invited speakers of this session are all […]
The Blood of Christ, Eucharistic blood or blood relic ? Vernard, Marc (Université de Paris X-Nanterre) Tabularia « Études », n° 9, (2009) Abstract There is an intriguing coincidence between the moment when the Latin Church abandoned the rite of receiving communion wine and the development of the cult of the « natural » precious […]
William of Volpiano in Normandy : Current Position Gazeau, Véronique (Université de Caen Basse-Normandie) Tabularia « Études », n° 2, (2002) Abstract Richard II’s appeal to William of Volpiano, an Italian-Burgundian reformer in 1001, must be regarded as an important stage in the revival of monasticism in the Norman principality. Fécamp becomes the ducal abbey, […]
Constructed in the second half of the thirteenth century, the Chapter House at Westminster was the first of a series which includes similar structures at Salisbury and York.
The Annunciation as Model of Meditation: Stillness, Speech and Transformation in Middle English Drama and Lyric Marginalia, Vol. 2, Cambridge Yearbook (2004-2005) Saetveit Miles, Laura Abstract The Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, portrayed in the Gospel of Luke 1: 26-38, is the moment when the Godhead becomes incarnate in human flesh and begins the Christian […]
An Essay on Cistercian Liturgy Kerr, Julie Cistercians in Yorkshire, University of Sheffield (2004) Abstract Concerning the mode and order of Divine services, the monks of Cîteaux decided right at the beginning to observe in everything the traditions of the Rule, cutting away entirely and rejecting all appendages to the psalms, orations and litanies, which were […]
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