Medieval Studies Commons^™

Ars Musice, Johannes De Grocheio, Constant J. Mews, John N. Crossley, Catherine Jeffreys, Leigh Mckinnon, Carol J. Williams

TEAMS Varia

Ars musice, composed in Paris during the late thirteenth century, reflects Johannes de Grocheio's awareness of the complexity of the task of describing music. As the editors note in their introduction, "Grocheio is aware of the enormous range of types of music performed in different ways in different places. How can he impose order on this enormous subject matter? He decided to resolve this question by structuring his discussion around the practice of music that he observed in the city of Paris, organized into three main 'branches': music of the people (musica vulgalis), composite or regular, 'which they call measured …

Singing The Story: Narrative Voice And The Old English Scop, Lisa M. Horton

The Hilltop Review

The picture of Anglo-Saxon society that we receive through its literature is a direct result of the life of the Old English scop. His personality and experiences filter into the stories that he tells and provide nuanced interpretations of both histories and legends, while his position within Anglo-Saxon society allows him direct access to the great events and persons of his time. As an active participant in his society, at the feet or even at the right hand of a king, he wields profound influence; as an observer and commentator on his society, he records and interprets both reality and …

Terror In The Old French Crusade Cycle: From Splendid Cavalry To Cannibalism, Sarah-Grace Heller

Re-visioning Terrorism

It is worth examining memories of the crusading experience in discussions of terrorism in history as well as the current political situation. The main piece of propaganda that linked Osama Bin-Laden to the 9/11 attacks, the “World Islamic Front Statement urging Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders,” evoked a Muslim memory of the crusades largely forgotten in the West. The works of the Old French Crusade Cycle are unique texts remembering and fantasizing the encounter with Muslims and other “others” in the Mediterranean. Composed by Graindor de Douai between 1190 and 1212, they recounted the First Crusade (1095-1099) in the …

Secularism And Belief In Georgia’S Pankisi Gorge, Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.

Ecopoetics And The Origins Of English Literature, Paul Siewers

Faculty Contributions to Books

An ecocritical survey of early English literature, focusing on the "green world" trope.

The Ecosemiosphere: Story And Region In Insular Medieval Literatures, Paul Siewers

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

Reflections on the interrelation of environmental humanities studies, physics and semiotics, as part of an international panel introducing ecosemiotics and biosemiotics to the North American ecocriticism communtiy at large.

Cistercian And Monastic Studies Conference, 2011, The Center For Cistercian And Monastic Studies Conference

Conference on Cistercian Studies Programs

Program for the 2011 Cistercian Studies Conference at Western Michigan University in conjunction with the 46th International Medieval Studies Congress. This conference happened between May 12-15 2011.

46th International Congress On Medieval Studies, Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

International Congress on Medieval Studies Archive

The printed program of the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 12-15, 2011), including the Corrigenda.

The Glossa Ordinaria On Romans, Michael Scott Woodward

TEAMS Commentary Series

"The Gloss on Romans is a collection of sources from many periods and places, which accounts for its inconsistencies. And this is what gives the Gloss much of its charm. . . . The twelfth century was an age of gathering sources and commentaries, in theology (Lombard's Sentences), canon law (Gratian's Decretum), and biblical studies (the Glossa ordinaria). Education began to flourish into what would become universities, where the master's role was to elucidate traditional, authoritative texts. And chief among these was the Bible, not standing alone but with the accompanying Gloss." - from the introduction

Chaucer’S Reading List: Sir Thopas, Auchinleck, And Middle English Romances In Translation, Ken Eckert

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Middle English romance has never attained critical respectability, dismissed as ―"vayn carpynge" in its own age and treated as a junk-food form of medieval literature or kidnapped for political or psychoanalytical readings. Chaucer‘s Tale of Sir Thopas has been explained as an acidly sarcastic satire of the romances‘ supposedly clichéd formulas and poetically unskilled authors. Yet such assumptions require investigation of how Chaucer and his ostensible audience might have viewed romance as a genre. Chaucer‘s likely use of the Auchinleck manuscript forms a convenient basis for examination of the romances listed in Thopas. With the aid of a modern translation, …

Woman Or Warrior? How Believable Femininity Shapes Warrior Women, Jessica D. Mccall

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My dissertation is an exploration of how femininity is constructed in the characters of warrior women. I define and apply my theory of believable femininity: the notion that in order for characters gendered female to be accepted by an audience, specific textual markers must render them submissive to a dominating male figure. I examine the following warrior women at length: Britomart and Radigund from Spenser's The Faerie Queene; Christine de Pizan's treatment of Amazons in her Book of the City of Ladies and Hippolyta's specific portrayal by de Pizan in comparison to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and the …

Dante’S Understanding Of The Two Ends Of Human Desire And The Relationship Between Philosophy And Theology, Jason Aleksander

Faculty Publications

I discuss Dante’s understanding that human existence is “ordered by two final goals” and how this understanding defines philosophy’s and theology’s respective scopes of authority in guiding human conduct. I show that, while Dante devalues the philosophical authority associated with the traditional Aristotelian emphasis on the significance of contemplative activity, he does so in order to highlight philosophy’s ethico-political authority to guide human conduct toward its “earthly beatitude.” Moreover, I argue that, although Dante subordinates earthly beatitude to spiritual beatitude, he nonetheless maintains that philosophy’s authority to reveal a path to spiritual beatitude requires its fundamental independence from theology.

Re-Forging The Smith: An Interdisciplinary Study Of Smithing Motifs In Völuspá And Völundarkviða, Leif Einarson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This project examines smithing motifs in the Old Norse poems Völuspá and Völundarkviða. The purpose of this research is to develop an understanding of these motifs in the contexts in which these poems were composed and transmitted.

The first chapter examines stanza seven of Völuspá and the role of the aflar, “forges/furnaces”, that the Æsir establish as part of their first settlement. I examine the significance of these aflar from literary, linguistic and archaeological perspectives and in relation to metallurgical functions and communal structures. I present a definition of afl and I conclude with a summary of the significance of …

Myth Materialized: Thirteenth Century Additions To The West Façade Of San Marco And Their Value In Venetian History Making, Michelle Reynolds

Summer Research

The focus of this paper is on the basilica of San Marco in Venice and its relationship to the political and social culture in which it was erected. Looking directly at the set of four horses placed high above the five main entrances and the mosaics of the transfer of Saint Mark’s relics to Venice which originally decorated these portals in the thirteenth century, this paper looks to discover connections between these rather unique designs and stylistic choices and the unique sense of identity the Venetians had long perpetuated. The two different groups of works illuminate deliberate stylistic connections to …

The Paratext To Chrétien De Troyes's Cligés: A Reappraisal Of The Question Of Authorship And Readership In The Prologue, Levilson C. Reis

Modern Languages & Cultures Faculty Scholarship

Starting with the premise that medieval manuscripts exhibit paratextual vestiges of their auctores, redactors, copyists, and readers, this article re-examines the question of authorship and readership in Chrétien de Troyes's prologue to Cligés (c. 1176-80) through the lens of paratextual references to the implied author's signature, allusions to possible titles of his previous works, marginal annotations of interpretative readings, and cases of significant manuscript variance. Firmly grounded in the manuscript, editorial, and critical tradition of Cligés, this reading re-evaluates the tripartite thematic structure of the prologue, hypothesizing the paratextual effect that the opening list of literary tides, …

Clergie , Clerkly Studium , And The Medieval Literary History Of Chréétien De Troyes's Romances, Levilson C. Reis

Modern Languages & Cultures Faculty Scholarship

This article traces the development of medieval literary history across the thirteenth century through manuscript readings of Chréétien de Troyes's romances. Redefining clergie as the clerkly pursuit of learning, the author argues that scribes played an important role in shaping Chréétien's romances and establishing their place in medieval literary history. Examining manuscript collections centred on Cligéés, the author delineates synchronic and diachronic shifts in the organization and presentation of Chréétien's manuscripts, evaluating the roles that different scribes and compilers played in the formation of a Chréétien corpus and the development of a romance genre.

A Fourteenth-Century Augustinian Approach To The Jews In Riccoldo Da Monte Croce’S Ad Nationes Orientales, Lydia M. Walker

Comparative Religion Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Praying With Confidence: Aquinas On The Lord's Prayer, By Paul Murray. Theology, Barnaby Hughes

Barnaby Hughes

No abstract provided.

Canons, Curriculums, Numbers, Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.

Review Of Islam And Sufism In Daghestan, Moshe Gammer, Ed. And Daghestan And The World Of Islam, Ed. Moshe Gammer And David J. Wasserstein., Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.