Above Lisbon’s skyline of colourful tiled houses and red roofs lies Castelo de São Jorge, a dominating, but beautiful, 11th century fortress in the heart of this vibrant city…
Genoa: The cog in the new medieval economy
August 18, 2015 By
Journalist and author Nicholas Walton writes about medieval Genoa’s economy, trade and role in the Black Death. Walton recently published a book on Genoese history entitled, “Genoa: La Superba”
BOOK REVIEW: Genoa ‘La Superba’: The Rise and Fall of a Merchant Pirate Superpower by Nicholas Walton
August 9, 2015 By
While most books about Italy have been dedicated to tourist hubs like Milan, Florence, Rome, Sicily and Venice, Genoa with its rich history, rugged landscape, and tenacious residents, has been given only a passing mention.
‘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.
The Morality of Misogyny: The Case of Rustico Filippi, Vituperator of Women
November 30, 2014 By
At the outset of his influential study on Rabelais, Mikhail Bakhtin makes an interesting observation. The scholar dedicates several pages to detail how the French author’s critical reception changed over time. Bakhtin illustrates how the attempt to comprehend an author can frequently be stymied by the cultural changes that occur across the centuries.
Intellectual Cartographic Spaces: Alfonso X, the Wise and the Foundation of the Studium Generale of Seville
November 7, 2014 By
This dissertation, “Intellectual Cartographic Spaces: Alfonso X, the Wise and the Foundations of the Studium Generale of Seville,” I reevaluate Spain’s medieval history, specifically focusing on the role of Alfonso X and his court in the development of institutions of higher education in thirteenth-century Andalusia.
Dental and oral diseases in Medieval Persia, lessons from Hedayat Akhawayni
October 23, 2014 By
Persian physicians had a great role in assimilation and expansion of medical sciences during the medieval period and Islamic golden age.
Latin Patrons, Greek Fathers: St Bartholomew of Simeri and Byzantine Monastic Reform in Norman Italy, 11th-12th Centuries
September 29, 2014 By
St Bartholomew of Simeri (ca. 1050-1130), a Greek monastic founder and reformer from Calabria, saw the effective end of Byzantine imperial power in southern Italy in 1071, the conquest of Muslim Palermo by Robert Guiscard the following year, and the rise of the Norman kingdom of Roger II at the end of his life.
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.
Race, Periodicity, and the (Neo-) Middle Ages
August 25, 2014 By
My goal is to intervene in ongoing discussions of race and periodicity, particularly vis-à-vis medieval culture, in order to investigate the informing role of the medieval and more particularly of medievalisms in the construction, representation, and perpetuation of modern racisms.
Nicolette : action transvestite, or, who and what is the heroine of Aucassin et Nicolette?
August 24, 2014 By
In this paper, I will show how Nicolette is constantly, deliberately, changing, in appearance and identity, from the beginning of the story, and how she is thus Izzard’s action transvestite.
‘That melodious linguist’: Birds in Medieval Christian and Islamic Cosmography
August 12, 2014 By
“Birds,” writes Albertus Magnus, “generally call more than other animals. This is due to the lightness of their spirits.”
Kissing Cousins: Incest and Sex Change in Tristan de Nanteuil
August 6, 2014 By
In this paper I re-examine Blanchandine‘s sex change in light of its relation to the issue of incest; as I will show, incest is directly related to the sex change and also punctuates the narrative at other points. Tristan de Nanteuil depicts two sexual and/or romantic relationships between cousins…
Two Rabbinic Views of Christianity in the Middle Ages
June 15, 2014 By
In the sessions of our section over the past decade, I introduced a significant distinction between two rabbinic attitudes in the Mediterranean countries during the Middle Ages of 12th and 13th centuries as to their view of Christianity.
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.
Medieval Friends: Chansons De Geste Ltd. – thematteroffrance.com
March 9, 2014 By
This week on Medieval Friends, we’re featuring Thomas Motter’s website, thematteroffrance.com. Thomas is fluent in French, and has lived in Paris and Munich. He’s done extensive research on medieval French history with an emphasis on the Chansons de Gestes.
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.
Christian Iberia: A Society Religiously Organized for War
February 15, 2014 By
Reconquista society in medieval Christian Spain is all too often considered through only economic and martial eyes. In this study of the prevelant cult of Santiago de Compostela (or St. James the Greater) I will demonstrate how medieval society meshed both war and religion.
Whose Golden Age? Some Thoughts on Jewish-Christian in Medieval Iberia
February 11, 2014 By
The medieval period in Spanish history has alternately been cast as a Golden Age of interfaith harmony and an example of the ultimate incompatibility of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities.
Ibn Wāṣil: An Ayyūbid Perspective on Frankish Lordships and Crusades
January 27, 2014 By
Ibn Wāṣil (604/1208-697/1298) was a relatively prominent scholar and administrator who had close links with the political and military elites of Ayyūbid- and early Mamlūk-period Egypt and Syria throughout his career.
Anesthesia Drugs in the Medieval Muslim Era
January 25, 2014 By
In the Middle Ages, Christian Europe was in a state of intellectual stagnation and the theological doctrine that pain serves God’s purpose and must not be alleviated militated against the improvement in methods of narcosis. Nuland points out that the Middle Ages in Europe were dark ages so far as advances in the pharmacology of anesthesia were concerned.
An abbot between two cultures: Maiolus of Cluny considers the Muslims of La Garde-Freinet
January 22, 2014 By
In July 972, Muslim raiders from the citadel of Fraxinetum (modern La Garde-Freinet) abducted Abbot Maiolus of Cluny and his entourage as they crossed the Great Saint Bernard Pass ( Mons Iovis ) in the western Alps.
El Cid, Cluny and the Medieval Spanish Reconquista
January 14, 2014 By
Rodrigo Díaz, better known by his title El Cid, has traditionally been portrayed as one of the great heroes of Spanish history, perhaps the perhaps the Spanish national hero par excellence.
Medieval Cookbooks: Something to Inspire the Medieval Cook in all of us!
January 5, 2014 By
Baby it’s cold outside. Brrrrr! It’s January, snow is blowing, frost is nipping at your toes – it’s a great time to cook a hearty, hot meal. Want to make it even better? Try a medieval menu! Here are a few books to inspire the medieval cook in all of us.
Managing the Commons: The role of the elites in the uses of common lands in the Midlands of the kingdom of Valencia during the Middle Ages
December 21, 2013 By
In a recent paper, Danie Curtis has given a framework for classifying preindustrial societies in accordance with four variables, these are, the property, the power, the market of basic products and the modes of production.
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