Mischievous Monks and Naughty Nuns? Scholar re-examines the illicit sexual accusations against monasteries in England during the dissolution
Research by a scholar at the University of Toronto has shown that the evidence collected by King Henry’s officials did not even show many sexual crimes, but instead used accusations of masturbation to make the monastic communities seem like they were deviant.
State power and illicit sexuality: the persecution of sodomy in late medieval Bruges
The study of marginal groups in the late medieval Low Countries is much neglected. The issues of when, where and how homosexuals came to be marginalized, to be regarded as a danger to social order, have not been specifically investigated in this part of Europe.
Love, Marriage, and Happiness: Changing Systems of Desire in Fourteenth-Century England
It is my intention not only to explore the discourse of love and desire in the fourteenth century, but also to examine how the ideas have been altered from those present in the Anglo-Norman and Latin material that was written or widely read in twelfth-century England and what pressures and influences may have brought about these changes.
Be My Medieval Valentine?: Five Fabulous Books on Love!
Five fabulous books to enjoy with your Abelard or Heloise! Happy Valentine’s Day Medievalverse!
The debate on the Epistolae duorum amantium. Current status
The methodological questions at stake are much more important and interesting. To quote the initial words of P. von Moos’ monumental article, these documents represent a real challenge for medievalism.
The Muslim/Mudejar in the Cantigas of Alfonso X, el Sabio
A great deal of current interest has been sparked regarding Alfonso X’s attitudes towards the various minorities which comprised his dominions. An excellent place to begin any serious re-assesment of alfonsine ideas of tolerance and intolerance is provided by the Cantigas of Santa María, the king’s greatest contribution to medieval art and letters.
Ancient Afro-Asia Links: New Evidence from a Maritime Perspective
Historical records have shown that the East African coast was connected to ancient global trade networks. These early overseas contacts are evidenced by references to trading voyages in the early 1st millennium AD and in the 11th to 14th century AD.
Shoes from the Middle Ages, Early Modern Period, topic of lecture in London
Up until the 16th century shoes were indeed hazardous, as fashion had favoured a flat, elongated gothic shoe with exaggeratedly long toes, both for men and women.
President Obama to award National Humanities Medal to medievalist
UCLA’s Teofilo F. Ruiz, an internationally recognized historian whose work focuses on medieval Spain and Europe, will be awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama today.
Vikings – the Rus – Varangians
Those who came from Scandinavia were called Rus and Varangians by peoples in Eastern Europe. French and Anglo-Saxon chroniclers sometimes divide the Vikings into ‘Danes’, ‘Swedes’ (Svear) and ‘Norsemen’ (Norwegians).
The Liturgical Context of Ælfric’s Homilies for Rogation
To search out Ælfric’s sources is also to inquire into his method of composition, to guess at the principles that guided him to some sources and away from others. Malcolm Godden has provided a remarkably full list of Ælfric’s sources, and suggests that Ælfric relied on relatively few volumes to compose his homilies.
The continuity of Roman water supply systems in post-Roman Spain: the case of Valentia, a reliable example?
This paper will thus be structured in several sections. First it will be necessary to approach the topic of Roman water supply systems as a whole, their direct relationship with urbanism and city-dwellers, and how these monuments were a clear indicator of Romanitas, even in the post-Roman period.
Salisbury Cathedral and Its Diversity of Flying Buttresses
The flying buttresses of Salisbury Cathedral are unique in their number of diverse types and in the irregular layout of these types in the Cathedral plan. Yet research on this topic has been neglected both from the fields of art history and construction history.
Roman Architectural Spolia
My charge is to say something about spolia that illuminates the theme “Rome: The Tide of Influence.” “Influence” is another term requiring definition.
Authority and Duty: Columbanus and the Primacy of Rome
The Irish missionary and founder of monasteries, Columbanus (†615), crossed into Italy in 612 and established his last foundation at Bobbio under the patronage of the Lombard king, Agilulf.
In a spin: the mysterious dancing epidemic of 1518
As the dance turned epidemic, troubled nobles and burghers consulted local physicians. Having excluded astrological and supernatural causes, the members of the medical fraternity declared it to be a ‘natural disease’ caused by ‘hot blood’.
Christian Days and Knights: The Religious Devotions and Court of David II of Scotland, 1329-71
Yet relative to his resources, David’s favour to the Scottish church and to Christian works in general was arguably as extensive as that of his aforementioned royal peers and predecessors, men who besides had a profound influence upon David’s nonetheless very individual court style.
The Neglect of the Ancient Classics at the Early Medieval Universities
Until recently it was customary to dismiss the subject by dwelling upon the utter barrenness of classical, as well as of all other lay learning in the Middle Ages, and thus intimate that nothing better could have been expected from the work at the universities. Today no competent scholar would pronounce such a verdict. The term “Twelfth Century Renaissance” is becoming a familiar phrase, and is finding its way into hand-books and text-books.
Who gave King Arthur “a crippling blow”? It was St. George, argues scholar
One of the key figures associated with the Middle Ages in England has been King Arthur, the legendary ruler who was made popular in medieval romances and chronicles. But in a recent lecture, Professor Henrietta Leyser argues that the Arthurian legend declined sharply in the later Middle Ages, replaced by a new hero emerged for the English people – St.George the Dragonslayer.
The Staff, the Snake and the Shamrock: St Patrick in Art
The image of a bearded man wearing a mitre and carrying a staff or crozier has become almost synonymous with the patron saint of Ireland, in particular when his vestments are green and adorned with shamrocks and a snake slithers around his feet.
From Jerusalem to Malta: the Hospital’s Character and Evolution
In 1113 Girardus secured an important papal privilege which recognized the Hospital’s independence; its members were considered to be in some sense technically religious and they were given the power to elect their own ruler.
The politics of factional conflict in late medieval Flanders
In his influential study on political factions in medieval Europe, Jacques Heers demonstrated the importance of factionalism in the political life of the middle ages, at the level of cities and regions as well as at the ‘national’ level.
Recorda splendidissima: the use of pipe rolls in the thirteenth century
In this context, perhaps it is necessary to look in more detail at the function of the pipe rolls, and the way in which they were used by the exchequer.
Mapping Malaria in Anglo-Saxon England
England once looked very different. Much of southern Britain was marshland for most of the island’s occupied history. These bogs, fens, and marshes ensured that areas of virtual wilderness persisted from before Roman Britain through the Norman period and beyond.