Politics Archive
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Was the White Ship disaster mass murder?
Posted on May 21, 2013 | No CommentsIt was perhaps the worst maritime disaster of the Middle Ages, not just because it cost 300 lives, but because one of them was the heir to the Anglo-Norman Empire. One scholar has a theory that the sinking of the White Ship on the night of November 25, 1120 was not a tragic accident, rather a case of mass murder. -
Feasting with Early Medieval Chiefs: Locating Political Action through Environmental Archaeology
Posted on May 18, 2013 | No CommentsThis excellent paper was the first given in the session on Early Medieval Europe. It looked at various archaeological excavations in Iceland and Denmark and the political role feasting played in pre-Christian Viking societies. -
Louis the Pious and the Conversion of the Danes
Posted on May 17, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper was part of a very interesting session on the Early Middle Ages. The papers covered Eastern European Infant Burial, the archaeology of medieval feasting and conversion. This paper contrasted the conversion policies of Charlemagne versus those of Louis the Pious. -
Are We Post-Queer? A Roundtable on the Present and Future of Queer Theory in Medieval Studies
Posted on May 14, 2013 | No CommentsThis was part of an excellent panel discussion on the future Queer Theory, pedagogy, gender and the cross over between Queer Studies and politics. -
Student Violence at the University of Oxford
Posted on May 9, 2013 | No CommentsMy first foray of KZOO 2013 couldn't have been off to a better start with, “I just don’t want to die without a few scars”: Medieval Fight Clubs, Masculine Identity, and Public (Dis)order. There were only two papers in this session and both were riveting. I felt like I couldn't type fast enough to get it all in! The first paper was given by Professor Andrew Larsen of Marquette University. Professor Larsen published a book on high and late medieval student violence and the Saint Scholastica's Day Riot at Oxford university. -
Welsh Poetry and the War of the Roses
Posted on May 5, 2013 | No CommentsThis is a brief summary of a paper on Welsh poetry, patronage and politics. It was given at the Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Conference at the University of Toronto April 18 - 21, 2013. -
Book Review: Shadow on the Crown
Posted on May 4, 2013 | No CommentsA review of Patricia Bracewell's book: Shadow on the Crown. -
The Possible Reasons for the Arab-Khazar Wars
Posted on April 28, 2013 | No CommentsFrom the middle of the 7th century until the second half of the 8th century, the Arab-Khazar wars were fought by the Umayyad, and later by the Abassid Caliphate against the regional power, the Khazar Khaganate. -
The commons in medieval England
Posted on April 21, 2013 | No CommentsWhy was the same term 'commons' used to describe both a part of the English legislature and a large gathering of rebellious people? How had this double meaning come about and what did it imply for the workings of politics in late medieval England? -
Medieval Astrology and The Buke of the Sevyne Sagis
Posted on April 20, 2013 | No CommentsIt is useful to begin by comparing the way the sages are initially described to the Emperor in the Latin, Middle English, and Middle Scots texts. Although the Middle Scots text is not connected to the English ones, they serve as a useful backdrop to illustrate the singular nature of the Scottish version of the story. -
Matilda of Boulogne, Queen of England
Posted on April 16, 2013 | No CommentsMatilda and Stephen were the model medieval couple. -
![It has indeed been confidently asserted that [Richard the 3d] killed his two Nephews & his Wife, but it has also been declared that he did not kill his two Nephews.](http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Princes-115x115.jpg "The Enduring Appeal of Richard III")
The Enduring Appeal of Richard III
Posted on April 14, 2013 | No CommentsIt has indeed been confidently asserted that [Richard the 3d] killed his two Nephews & his Wife, but it has also been declared that he did not kill his two Nephews. -
Empress Matilda, Lady of the English
Posted on April 9, 2013 | No CommentsHere lies the daughter, wife, and mother of Henry. -
Æthelflæd: Warrior Queen of Mercia
Posted on April 5, 2013 | No CommentsHer deeds are largely forgotten, but as Alex Burghart explains, Æthelfæd turned a cornered kingdom into a powerhouse that defeated the Welsh and the Vikings -
Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England
Posted on April 4, 2013 | No CommentsMatilda was to become adept at combining family connections, political alliances and patronization of the Church to her advantage. -
Cross relationships between Cyprus and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Teutonic Military Order Tradition
Posted on April 1, 2013 | No CommentsThis article will shed new light on the relationships and connections that developed between members of the Teutonic Order based in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and various elements of the population on the island of Cyprus. -
The Virgin Mary in High Medieval England, A Divinely Malleable Woman: Virgin, Intercessor, Protector, Mother, Role Model
Posted on March 31, 2013 | No CommentsThis thesis examines the significance of the Virgin Mary in England between the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. The primary sources selected indicate the variety of ideas circulating about her during this period. Strictly religious texts such as the Bible and early Christian writings ground Late Medieval beliefs about Mary in their historical context. -
Delivering stability: Primogeniture and autocratic survival in European monarchies 1000-1800
Posted on March 27, 2013 | No CommentsAlthough the dominating position of primogeniture at the end of the period might seem natural given primogeniture's many advantages for the monarch and the ruling elite it was first rather late in history that the principle came to dominate Europe. -
Multi-confessionalism in Medieval and Ottoman Bosnia-Herzegovina
Posted on March 25, 2013 | No CommentsBy the fifth century CE, however, the Western Empire was unraveling, and Bosnia, the easternmost outpost of Latin jurisdiction, was being engulfed by throngs of barbarian Slavs. -
Gilbert Foliot and the two swords : law and political theory in twelfth-century England
Posted on March 18, 2013 | No CommentsConsidering the importance of the Church as a driving force in twelfth- century political history, the complex relationship between piety and Church involvement in lay politics during this time period remains surprisingly under-explored. -
Aelfthryth, Queen of England
Posted on March 12, 2013 | No CommentsIn researching medieval queens, I came across the story of a queen having all the elements of a fairy tale. Her name is Aelfthryth, the wife of King Edgar the Peaceable -
Strategy and Manipulation in Medieval Elections
Posted on March 11, 2013 | No CommentsElections in the Middle Ages were used for the same reasons that they are today: To select suitable candidate(s) for a particular office, duty, or obligation. -
Elite and government in medieval Leiden
Posted on March 10, 2013 | No CommentsThe development of Leiden's 61ite is traced up to 1420. The siege of the city in that year and the assumption of power by Jan van Beieren resulted in important changes in the urban government: the faction of the Hoeken finally lost ascendancy and the viscount of Leiden ceased to have control over the city's administration. -
The earls in Henry the Second’s reign
Posted on March 10, 2013 | No CommentsThe earldoms of Henry Ills reign can only be understood in the context of their history. The roots of the nature of earldoms in Henry II's reign stretch back beyond the Norman Conquest to England and the Continent before 1066. It was the combination of these two traditions that shaped many of the features of the earldom under the Norman and early Angevin kings of England. -
Woman-Woman Love in Islamic Society
Posted on March 9, 2013 | No CommentsWomen have only recently become visible at all in Islamicist/Orientalist discourse. Within most present-day Islamic states, where representation of even married heterosexual conduct is heavily censored, woman-woman sexuality remains thoroughly submerged.
