Easter Archives - Medievalists.net

by Medievalists.net April 13, 2025

The Council of Whitby: A Study in Early Anglo-Saxon Politics

This article re-examines the Council of Whitby (664) in light of political tensions in early Anglo-Saxon England, arguing that the synod was driven as much by dynastic conflict and papal diplomacy as by liturgical dispute. Drawing on sources like Bede and the Life of Wilfrid, it offers a revised timeline and highlights the council’s significance in Oswiu’s struggle for ecclesiastical and political supremacy.

by Sandra Alvarez April 1, 2018

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NEW! The Medieval Magazine No. 108

Spring cleaning! The first issue of the Medieval Magazine with a fresh new face!
In this issue, we look at Norse seasons, medieval beliefs about luck, food and politics in Constantinople, Spanish Easter traditions, and the overlooked life of Catherine of Aragon.

by Sandra Alvarez March 31, 2013

Articles

A question of time or a question of theology: A study of the Easter controversy in the Insular Church

To date scholarly research has approached this topic from a medieval historical perspective. It has, however, never been approached from a purely theological stance. Questions regarding the Insular 84-year cycle have occupied scholars over the past one hundred years or so. A review of the literature reveals an advance in understanding the techniques of the computus of the Insular church.

by Medievalists.net April 9, 2012

Articles

The Byzantine communion chant for Easter in 14th-century manuscripts

It is only recently that the attention of musicologists has been directed to the study of Eastern church music as transmitted in 14th and 15th-century Byzantine manuscripts.

by Medievalists.net March 10, 2012

Articles

Early medieval science: the evidence of Bede

The Venerable Bede used observable proofs and mathematical calculations in his early 8th-century treatise De temporum ratione to teach the astronomical principles that inform the calculation of the date of Easter. This suggests that the seeds of the modern scientific method might be found before the 12th century in the educational practices of the early medieval monasteries.

by Sandra Alvarez April 17, 2011

Articles

The Visitatio Sepulchri in the Latin Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Holy Week commemorates the last days of Christ’s earthly presence, from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his crucifixion and resurrection.

by Medievalists.net October 30, 2010

Articles

The Late Birth of a Flat Earth

In his chronologies, Bede sought to order the events of Christian history, but the primary motive and purpose of his calculations centered on a different, and persistently vexatious, problem in ecclesiastical timing—the reckoning of Easter.