Why is it specifically the medieval era, or fantasy equivalents of it, that captivates the masses?
The two swords: using the symbol of the battle of Grunwald (1410) in the 19th and 20th century Poland
June 21, 2014 By
It would be difficult to find an event in the Polish history which imprinted more influence on common social imagination or the actions of modern Polish social and political leaders that would be comparable to the battle of Grunwald.
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘A Knight’s Tale’
May 19, 2014 By
Staying home on a Sunday night? Looking for a fun medieval movie to watch? Here is my review of ‘A Knight’s Tale’ for your Sunday night selection!
Book Review: An Unsuitable Princess, by Jane Rosenberg LaForge
May 16, 2014 By
The fantasy breaks up the troubling narcissism of the diary, while the diary gives the fantasy its grounding and meaning.
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?
Medievalism, the Beautiful Book, and the Arts and Crafts Movement
May 6, 2014 By
My objective here is to examine briefly the influence of Medievalism on the emergence of the concept of the beautiful book in the Arts and Crafts movement, first in England and then its impact in publication design in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
‘A great heathen fist from the North’: Vikings, Norse Mythology, and Medievalism in Nordic Extreme Metal Music
May 1, 2014 By
Viking metal is a dynamic and popular subgenre of metal music of burgeoning popularity coming primarily from Nordic countries.
Smearing the Medieval: Architectural Objects and Time Travel in Amnesia: The Dark Descent
March 3, 2014 By
In late 2010, a small game development company known as Frictional Games launched Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a survival horror game fixated upon medieval and Renaissance traditions.
‘It’s the Middle Ages, Yo!’: Race, Neo/medievalisms, and the World of Dragon Age
February 15, 2014 By
This article examines ways in which the idea of an authentic Middle Ages is deployed in fan debates over perceived racism in the role-playing video-game Dragon Age: Origins (DAO), its sequel Dragon Age II (DA2), and the forthcoming third game.
Apocalypse et Moyen Âge : un cocktail détonnant
February 5, 2014 By
Dans l’imaginaire contemporain, Apocalypse et Moyen âge semblent aller de pair. Rares sont les films médiévalistes où il n’est pas question de fin du monde, où qui ne représente pas une société en plein déclin, au bord de sa propre destruction.
Prince Valiant, un chevalier du Rio Bravo
February 5, 2014 By
An article in French on the American comic book Prince Valiant.
The Most Significant Manuscript Sources of Medieval Croatian Vernacular Verse
February 4, 2014 By
The first part of the article gives a brief overview of the history of Croatian literacy up to the first written record of poetry in the Old Croatian language.
Knights of Badassdom
January 20, 2014 By
TUGG screenings begin January 21st; available On Demand and Digitally February 11th
Were the Peasants Really So Clean? The Middle Ages in Film
January 4, 2014 By
Movies about the European Middle Ages are profoundly modern creations. They tend to reflect the anxieties and preoccupations of their modern creators rather than those of people who lived a thousand years ago.
Chaucer’s reading list: Sir Thopas, Auchinleck, and Middle English romances in translation
December 29, 2013 By
One frustration of engaging in any branch of European medieval studies as an academic pursuit is that few claim expertise about the ancient or Roman worlds, but seemingly everyone on an internet discussion forum believes him or herself knowledgeable about the medieval period, usually based on patently false beliefs.
Medievalism as fun and games
December 23, 2013 By
Medievalism hides in many guises in contemporary culture, of which four will be examined here.
Cutting and Running from the (Medieval) Middle East: The Mises-hors-scène of Kingdom of Heaven’s Double DVDs
November 23, 2013 By
Cutting and Running from the (Medieval) Middle East: The Mises-hors-scène of Kingdom of Heaven’s Double DVDs Richard Burt 15 | 2007 : Le Moyen Âge mis en scène : perspectives contemporaines Abstract “There is no escaping the parallels with our time, when leaders who try to make peace are admired, but their efforts are subverted by […]
Getting Schmedieval: Of Manuscript and Film Prologues, Paratexts, and Parodies
November 9, 2013 By
Getting Schmedieval: Of Manuscript and Film Prologues, Paratexts, and Parodies Richard Burt (Guest Co-Editor, University of Florida) EXEMPLARIA: VOL. 19, NO. 2, SUMMER 2007, 217 – 242 Abstract This introduction examines how historical effects in cinematic medievalism are produced through analogies between their shared marginal paratexts, including historiated letters, prefaces, opening title sequences, film prologues, and intertitles. […]
Castles, Confusion, and the Count: Vlad the Impaler’s Impact on Tourism in Romania
October 31, 2013 By
Vlad the Impaler is often buried in the vampire myths of Count Dracula, even in Romania where the Impaler lived and died.
Barbarians and Literature – Viking Metal and its Links to Old Norse Mythology
October 16, 2013 By
Barbarians and Literature – Viking Metal and its Links to Old Norse Mythology By Imke von Helden The Metal Void: First Gatherings, edited by Niall W. R. Scott and Imke Von Helden (Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2010) Introduction: Viking Metal originated in the late 1980s in Scandinavian countries, pioneered by the Swedish Death Metal Band Bathory. It was further developed and […]
The millennium King Arthur: the commodification of the Arthurian legend in the 20th century
October 15, 2013 By
The prophesy that King Arthur will return has come true. This legendary icon of Western civilization lives again in the popular culture novels of contemporary and futuristic literature.
Pre-Raphaelite Painting and the Medieval Woman
August 13, 2013 By
Archetypal women fill Pre-Raphaelite paintings—in the examples within of this thesis, the Virgin Mary and two of Shakespeare’s heroines—who offer case studies of women in states of psychological turmoil. The depiction of their stories facilitated the Pre-Raphaelites in creating a prescriptive doctrine of how these women should be viewed.
Literary composition and the early medieval historian in the nineteenth century
August 5, 2013 By
I wish to consider a number of literary works written by men who were also scholars, to see whether there could be a serious interpretative purpose in the historical novel.
Manifestations of the Grotesque and Carnivalesque Body in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal
August 1, 2013 By
Manifestations of the Grotesque and Carnivalesque Body in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal Brian Gourley (School of English, Queen’s University Belfast)Queen’s University Belfast, Quest, Vol.1 (2006) Abstract Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) remains arguably his best-known work. If one talks of the existence of a genre of medieval film, and subsequently, the […]
The Middle Ages in the Modern World: Terry Jones and Patrick Geary
July 25, 2013 By
Filmed at the British Academy in London on July 1, 2013
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