We are well informed on the life of Stephen of Tournai and some of his work (97). Born in 1128, he grew up in the chapter of Sainte-Croix in Orléans, where he was educated in the artes liberales.
Medieval Letter-Collections as a Mirror of Circles of Friendship? The Example of Stephen of Tournai, 1128-1203
July 8, 2014 By
Saints, Tradition and Monastic Identity: The Ghent Relics, 850-1100
July 7, 2014 By
The extraordinary story ofthe Ghent relics was first told by Oswald Holder- Egger in an article published in 1886. During his work on part two of volume 15 of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores series, which Holder- Egger had just finished, he had come across the hagiographie literature produced at the abbeys of St Baafs and St Pieters in Ghent.
The Consolidation of Local Authority Through the Defense of the Church in the Royal Domain of France Under Louis VI
June 23, 2014 By
When Louis VI ascended to the throne in 1108 AD, he faced substantial challenges as the fifth monarch of the Capetian dynasty; he confronted the problem of stopping the general decline of the monarchy and achieved this in a way that reasserted the foundations of the crown as the sole dominant figure in the royal domain and a respected lord throughout the kingdom.
The Identity of the St Bees Lady, Cumbria: An Osteobiographical Approach
June 23, 2014 By
USING AN OSTEOBIOGRAPHICAL approach, this contribution considers the identity of the woman found alongside the St Bees Man, one of the best-preserved archaeological bodies ever discovered. Osteological, isotopic and radiocarbon analyses, combined with the archaeo- logical context of the burial and documented social history, provide the basis for the identifica- tion of a late 14th-century heiress whose activities were at the heart of medieval northern English geopolitics.
Medieval nunnery discovered in Wales
June 7, 2014 By
Archaeologists working in western Wales have discovered the remains of a medieval nunnery that was turned into a Tudor mansion.
Blended and Extended Families in Carolingian Charters
May 27, 2014 By
This is a summary of a paper on Carolingian charters and the relationship between step and blended families.
Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England
May 21, 2014 By
My summary of a paper given at the Institute of Historical Research on: Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England.
BOOKS: Canterbury Cathedral
May 4, 2014 By
After visiting Canterbury Cathedral, I was inspired to suggest books that relate to Canterbury’s famous Archbishops, history and beauty.
Community Conflict and Collective Memory in the Late Medieval Parish Church
May 1, 2014 By
What role does conflict play in the formation of community identity? And how do powerful, even violent, moments sustain that identity throughout centuries of change and transformation?
Byzantine monastery discovered the Negev Desert
April 14, 2014 By
An impressive Byzantine monastery dating to the late sixth-century has been discovered in the northern part of the Negev Desert in Israel.
The Augustinian Canons in England and Wales: Architecture, Archaeology and Liturgy 1100-1540
April 12, 2014 By
The Augustinian canons remain very much the Cinderellas of British medieval monastic history.
Greek in Marriage, Latin in Giving: The Greek Community of Fourteenth-century Palermo and the Deceptive Will of Bonannus de Geronimo
April 12, 2014 By
This article discusses the pitfalls that can occur in the study of ethnicity in the me- dieval period in the context of the potential existence of two separate Greek minori- ties—one indigenous and one immigrant—in fourteenth-century Latin-dominated Palermo, Italy.
BOOK REVIEWS: “The Chalice” by Nancy Bilyeau
April 8, 2014 By
My book review of Nancy Bilyeau’s, “The Chalice”.
Monasticism and the Royal Abbey of Saint Denis
April 6, 2014 By
Saint‐Denis seems to occupy a curious place in French history: never has there been a church so revered and yet so reviled.
Herb-workers and Heretics: Beguines, Bakhtin and the Basques
March 22, 2014 By
During the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the word beguine was used by women to identify themselves as members of a wide-spread and influential women’s movement. The same term was used by their detractors and overt opponents, with the highly charged negative meaning of “heretic.” The etymology of the term “beguine” and ultimate origins of the movement have never been satisfactorily explained.
Death and the Fraternity: A Short Study on the Dead in Late Medieval Confraternities
March 22, 2014 By
Since the publication of Philippe Aries’ ground-breaking The Hour of our Death, historians of confraternities have largely followed his lead and treated confraternities as a “guarantee of eternity.”
Bernard of Clairvaux’s Writings on Violence and the Sacred
March 18, 2014 By
Monk, exegete, political actor and reformer, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was not just a man of his times; he was a man who shaped his times.
Saint Patrick’s Purgatory: a fresco in Todi, Italy
March 17, 2014 By
This essay deals with the tradition of the revelation of Purgatory to St. Patrick on Station Island in Lough Derg, whose popularity is testified not only in literary texts in the various languages of Medieval Europe but also in a unique work of art in the convent of the Sisters of Saint Clair at Todi, Umbria
On the shape of the Insular tonsure
February 22, 2014 By
This paper carefully reviews the early medieval evidence and proposes that the tonsure was triangular in shape, resembling a Greek delta.
BOOKS: Daily Life in the Middle Ages
February 16, 2014 By
Ever wonder how monks, women and Vikings lived their day to day lives in the Middle Ages? These books will give you a glimpse into their world.
The impact of the crusading movement in Scotland, 1095-c.1560
February 15, 2014 By
The involvement of Scots in the Crusades has never been studied in detail either by historians of Scotland or of the Crusades, but it is hoped that the present thesis will show such a detailed study to be worthwhile.
Life in the Pauline Monasteries of Late Medieval Hungary
February 8, 2014 By
The Pauline order emerged in the second half of the thirteenth century and became one of the most popular religious communities of medieval Hungary.
A shared imitation: Cistercian convents and crusader families in thirteenth-century Champagne
February 6, 2014 By
This article examines the relationship between Cistercian nunneries and the crusade movement and considers the role of gender in light of the new emphasis on penitential piety and suffering prevalent during the thirteenth century.
Like a Duck to Water: Representations of Aquatic Animals in Early Anglo-Saxon Literature and Art
February 4, 2014 By
In the second book of his Life of Columba abbot Adomnan of Iona relates some details regarding the second and third voyages of the monk Cormac in search of ‘a desert place in the ocean’.
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