Medieval Foundations of Limited Government
Medieval Foundations of Limited Government Paper by Andrew Willard Jones Given at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Annual Student Honors Conference, held between August…
How Did Danish Vikings Become Christian European?
The lecture presents some of the most significant archaeological finds in Denmark from the transition from the pre-Christian period into the Early Middle Ages.
The Medieval Roots of Warhammer 40,000’s Endless Crusade
This paper will examine the historical roots of Warhammer 40,000’s Endless Crusades, how they reflect the Pluralist School of crusade historiography’s expansive definition of crusading, and how the paranoia and fervour shaping these fictional wars is not so different from that of the real-world crusade movement.
Careers for Medievalists?
Sponsored by the British Archaeological Association, this event aims to demonstrate the range of career options available to medievalists, especially those studying in Art History and adjacent disciplines such as History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies.
Life and Government in Royal Castles in the Long Thirteenth Century
This is a two-part lecture with Lindy Grant speaking on ‘Power and domesticity: Castles and Capetian rulership in the the thirteenth century’ and Jeremy Ashbee speaking on ‘The Royal Castles of Edward I and English Control of North Wales’
Women and the Mount Athos in the Byzantine Period
My topic this evening is women and Mount Athos in the Byzantine period and I emphasize the conjunction and women and Mount Athos, not women on Mount Athos.
Medieval Contributions to Patriotism
The lecture will survey medieval variations of military patriotism (pro patria mori) and civil patriotism (the exercise of civic virtues for the common good) before turning to an examination of endemic patriotism in the late Middle Ages, which eulogised the native land and naturalised the love of country.
Constitutionalism and Consent: The Roles of Quod omnes tangit in the Political Thought of William of Ockham
Translated into English as “what touches all must be approved by all,” it has ordinarily been understood by scholars to express a nascent justification of constitutionalism, democracy or popular sovereignty, or at any rate a principle underlying some system of representative government that limited the power of rulers.
The Rise and Expansion of Islam in Somalia
Mohamed Haji Mukhtar of Savannah State University takes visitors on a journey into a lesser-known chapter in the spread of Islam — its diffusion through the nomadic Somali-speaking clans of the Horn of Africa.
Silver Linings: Money, Plague and Economic Change in 7th and 8th century England
There is less confidence about how and why this transformation came about especially in its early stages around the time of Bede and what this talk was consider is how and why these changes began when they did.
From Generation to Generation: Jewish Inheritance Practices and Christian Notarial Culture in the Crown of Aragon, 1250-1391
This paper argues that the vast majority of Jews who drew up notarial wills, donatio inter vivos contracts, and other Latinate documents related to inheritance did not seek to circumvent Jewish law. Instead, they valued a combination of Latin and Hebrew-Aramaic contracts as a means of making their inheritance choices intelligible both within and beyond the Jewish community.
“A Wonderful Country Inhabited by Blacks”: Ahmad al-Mansur and “His” Conquest of the Bilad al-Sudan
Today we are going to deal with a very famous actually episode in the history of African history that is the so-called Moroccan conquest of this late medieval, early modern polity of West Africa that is the so-called Songhay Empire.
Forbidden Love: Medieval Romance as Critical Race Studies Archive
My goal here is to talk a bit about why medieval romance, and especially medieval English romance, is such a useful archive for the critical study of race.
Computational Analysis as a Tool for Contextualizing the Music of Hildegard of Bingen
For many years, Jennifer Bain has been analyzing and contextualizing the music of Hildegard of Bingen within the medieval chant repertory using manual methodologies.
English peasant settlement in Anglo-Norman Ireland
This paper examines the sometimes conflicting historical, archaeological and place-name evidence for English peasant immigration and settlement in Ireland during the very late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, immediately after the Anglo-Norman invasion.
Becoming a Saint in Byzantium
The model or ideal of human behaviour and achievement in Byzantium was to become a saint.
The Irish DNA Atlas: providing a map of Irish genetics in and out of Ireland
Genetic data from a population can help to contextualise historical records and evidence of that population’s history, provide evidence of that population’s size and the existence of communities within it, and inform us about the genetic legacy of past mixing of other populations resulting from migration.
The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club
The illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages are among the greatest works of European art and literature. But we generally think much less about the people who made, saved and sometimes destroyed medieval manuscripts, over a thousand years of history.
Siege Warfare in the Levant, 1097-1193
What did a siege look like in the 12th-century Middle East? How did people prepare for them? Which technique was the most likely to succeed?
A Life, a Death, a Legacy: Writing the History of Ritual Murder
The Life and Passion of William of Norwich, written in the twelfth century by Thomas of Monmouth a Benedictine monk, contains the earliest accusation that Jews killed a Christian child for hate of Christians and their beliefs.
How to Transcribe a Million Manuscripts with eScriptorium
Recent advances in machine learning combined with the availability of millions of images of manuscript pages means that we are now able to produce automatic transcriptions of medieval and other manuscripts, with over 99% accuracy in the right circumstances.
The Art of War in the Renaissance: Technology, Tactics, and the “Face of Battle”
In this talk, Clifford Rogers will place the Battle of Pavia in this context, explaining the general tactics of the day and how they related to what were then recent developments in the technology of firearms and of armor.
Tracing the Echo of the Romantic Poet in Tolkien’s ‘Beowulf’
Both scholars and fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s authorship generally agree that the medieval poem ‘Beowulf’ was essential for his studies in Old English literature and his creation of Middle-earth.
The Huntsman’s Redemption
Given the longstanding vigour of criticisms of participation in the hunt in the 13th century, any saint’s life, which opened with a hunting scene, would have immediately signalled to readers or listeners that the unfolding story would reveal a deeper character flaw.