Where the Middle Ages Begin
The medieval Church viewed itself as Defender of the Faith, the destroyer of the unbelievers, the wrong believers. These heretics were to be reviled and feared as perverters of God’s word. The perverters of orthodoxy were, ultimately, not to be distinguished from one another, but rather known by catchphrases.
The Ars Moriendi is a Mediaeval Christian death manual that appeared around the middle of the fifteenth century. Though no-one is certain who the author was, there is no doubt that Jean Gerson was the major inspiration through his Opusculum Tripartitum.
No one knew the risks and rewards of magic better than Agrippa. His notorious handbook, De occulta philosophia, circulated in manuscript by 1510, though it was printed only in 1533, over the complaints of Dominican inquisitors.
This is a question which has dogged the history of the interaction between Rome and the Black monks, and it brings a second question in its wake – what were the medieval Popes trying to do with monasticism?
The Spiritual and the Supernatural according to Thomas Aquinas Murray, Andrew A paper delivered at the Biennial Conference in Philosophy, Religion and Culture, ‘The Supernatural’, Catholic Institute of Sydney, 3 – 4 October (1998) Abstract As we investigate in this conference what is meant by “supernatural” and whether or not we wish to admit anything […]
Adelard of Bath and Roger Bacon: early English natural philosophers and scientists Hackett, Jeremiah M. Endeavour, Vol. 26(2) 2002 Abstract The image of Roger Bacon as a ‘modern’ experimental scientist was propagated as historical truth in 19th century scientific historiography. Twentieth century criticisms attacked this tradition, arguing that Bacon was primarily a medieval philosopher with ‘medieval’ scientific […]
Sisters Between Gender and the Medieval Beguines Stoner, Abby Ex Post Facto: Journal of the History Students at San Francisco State University, Vol.5:2 (1995) Abstract The Beguines of northern Europe have been called the first women’s movement in Christian history. This group of religiously dedicated laywomen, who took no permanent vows, followed no prescribed rule, supported themselves […]
“Neoplatonic Influence in the Writings of Robert Grosseteste” Hendrix, John Shannon (Roger Williams University) School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation Faculty Papers (2008) Abstract Robert Grosseteste was appointed the first chancellor of Oxford University in 1221. He lectured in theology there from 1225 to 1230, and became the first reader to the Greyfriars or Franciscans in […]
The Letters of Eljigidei, Hülegü, and Abaqa: Mongol Overtures or Christian Ventriloquism? Aigle, Denise (French Institute for the Middle East – Damascus) Inner Asia 7 (2005) Abstract This paper deals with the Great Khans and Ilkhans’ letters, and with the question of their authenticity. Generally, these letters were written in Mongolian, but very few of […]
Ethics and poetics: the architectural vision of Saint Francis of Assisi Caicco, Gregory Paul (McGill University) Phd Philosophy Thesis, McGill University (1998) Abstract Contrary to the view of many interpreters that Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) dabbled in church renovation for a few years following his first conversion experience in 1205, architecture remained a central preoccupation […]
Negotiating Interfaith Relations in Eastern Christendom: Pope Gregory IX, Bela IV of Hungary, and the Latin Empire Lower, Michael (University of Minnesota) Essays in Medieval Studies, Vol.21 (2004) Abstract At the beginning of the thirteenth century Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) laid a framework for centralizing papal power over Christian encounters with non-Christians. He enacted legislation to separate Jews from Christians, […]
The Third Annual Medievalists@Penn Graduate Student Conference – Family Matters Panel I: Sisters In Spirit “Family Life and the Garment of Love: St. Francis and Nicholas Bozon’s ‘Lives of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Agnes’ Courtney E. Rydel (University of Pennsylvania) Courtney is a 5th year PhD candidate who’s research focus is on women […]
Inquisition, Repression, and Ridicule Hibbs, Albert R. Engineering and Science (December 1974-January 1975) Abstract In the spring of the year 1498,Moro, the Duke of Sforza, held a gathering of scholars in the large hall of the Sforza Palace in Milan. The affair was called “The Duel of Learning.” There were arguments among the learned men concerning the […]
THE PROCESS OF TRANCE, HEAVENLY AND DIABOLIC APPARITIONS IN JOHANNES NIDER’S FORMICARIUS Klaniczay, Gábor Procession, Performance, Liturgy, and Ritual, ed. Nancy van Deusen, Ottawa: Claremont Cultural Studies (2007) Abstract Johannes Nider (1380-1438) is a frequently mentioned but rarely studied ecclesiastical writer and reformer of the first half of the fifteenth century. After entering the Dominican order […]
The 31st Annual Canadian Conference of Medieval Art Historians A New Vision of Death: Re-Evaluating Huizinga’s Views on the Late Medieval Macabre Kralik, Christine (University of Toronto) Abstract In The Waning of the Middle Ages, first published in the Netherlands in 1919, Johan Huizinga explored the late medieval art of France and the Netherlands and […]
Conflicting loyalties: the Irish Franciscans and the English Crown in the High Middle Ages Muller, Anne (Catholic University, Eichstätt) Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 107C, (2007) Abstract This paper seeks to identify the ways in which religious orders dealt with the problem of conflicting loyalties in the medieval period in Ireland. The English crown […]
Sins of Tongues, Pains of Members: Speech, Division and Sacrament in Late Medieval Exempla Langum, V.E. Marginalia, Vol. 6, (2006-2007) Cambridge Yearbook Abstract Late medieval exempla teem with burned and chewed tongues, cleaved bodies, engorged genitals and rotting corpses. Designed both to engage and instruct, effective exempla ‘removent taedium’ and ‘somnolentiam fugant’ in the visceral details […]
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