History Commons^™

Arthur: Where Did He Go?, Siddarth Palaniappan

A with Honors Projects

This essay discusses the historical and mythological origins of King Arthur. Concludes that, while there is enough evidence to identify individuals in history that correlate with the legend of Arthur, a preference toward romanticized Aurthurian tales was created through repeated use in both Christian institutions and British politics to promote financial and political agendas.

Notre Dame De Paris: Before, During, And After The Hunchback: A Study In Medievalism, Maura Wilson

The Bay Area Undergraduate Art History Research Symposium

Nestled against the banks of the River Seine towers a monument of a time and place lost to the world surrounding it. The building’s dark and brooding facade watches over the crowds that visit it every day of every year, swarming in herds to take pictures with it. However, as the cameras snap millions of pictures in the quest for the perfect selfie, the question arises: are the photographers really seeing the testament to medieval life that looms above them or do they see a beloved character from a wildly manipulated fairytale?

Social Portraits On Conversos. Baptism And Royal Clemency In Medieval Castille (1492-1502), Marisa Bueno

Marisa Bueno

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Supernatural Powers In Arab-Byzantine Wars As Reflected By The Popular Imagination, Abdelaziz M. A. Ramadan

Abdelaziz M. A. Ramadan

Legends and myths seem lacking a solid historicity, but they often, if not always, reflect the imagination, culture and ideas of the peoples who created them. As the recent study demonstrates, aside from the political rivalry, military confrontation and religious difference that were arose between the Byzantines and the Arabs; they shared a similar popular belief in the supernaturalism of the divine powers.

12, A Love Affair: Passionate Pursuits Of The Book Of Hours, Tammy Boyer-Martel

Texts of Time

Tammy Boyer-Martel focuses on how the Book of Hours provides crucial resources of cultural context that reveal the intimate and personal relationship between text and owner.

09, Decorated Borders: Marginalia, Jackie Anderson

Texts of Time

Jackie Anderson explains the importance of devotional books in medieval life and describes the significance of color and symbol in the marginal illustrations and illustrated initials on a fifteenth-century manuscript.

10, Points Of Difference, Charolette Stoehr

Texts of Time

Charolette Stoehr describes the points of difference and continuity amongst Book of Hours.

06, The Transition From Psalters To Books Of Hours, Thomas Goodwin

Texts of Time

Thomas Goodwin describes the types of manuscripts that preceded Books of Hours, their commonalities and distinctions, and the changes in content and design of devotional manuscripts over time.

03, Stylistic Aspects Of The Portland State University Book Of Hours, Melissa Medefesser

Texts of Time

Melissa Medefesser analyzes key features of illustrations in the Book of Hours indicating regional styles and artistic innovations of its time.

08, History Of Dress, Bethany Kraft

Texts of Time

Bethany Kraft analyzes the dress worn by religious figures and laypeople depicted in the illuminations in Portland State’s Book of Hours.

07, From Manuscripts To Printing, Devin Courtright

Texts of Time

Devin Courtright discusses William Caxton's (1415-1492) place in print history.

Early Medieval World (Chapter 2 Of World History, A Short, Visual Introduction), Caitlin Corning

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

The fifth through the tenth centuries was a period of significant transformation for Europe. As a result of the Germanic invasions and the collapse of the economy, the last Roman Emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus (475-76), was deposed in 476. The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire would continue in a much-truncated form until the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. Not only did the Germanic tribes continue their expansion into the Roman territories in the fourth and fifth centuries, the Arabs conquered substantial territory in the seventh and eighth, and Viking, Magyar, and Arab attacks tore apart Europe in …

Reform In 1215: Magna Carta And The Fourth Lateran Council, Kenneth Pennington

Scholarly Articles

By 1215 King John had lost almost all of his northern continental possessions. The core of the Angevin empire, Normandy, was lost. Anglo-French barons who still held lands in Normandy owed their primary allegiance to King Phillip Augustus, not to King John. The barons and churchmen who remained under his sovereignty chaffed under his rule. It is clear from the document that the barons forced John to sign when they met with John on Runnymede in 15 July 2015, they intended to impose reform on the king. We might sum up their objectives as being the administration of justice and …

La Biografia Di Graziano, Il Padre Del Diritto Canonico, Kenneth Pennington

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Mvst 4654 Medieval London: Syllabus, 2015, Maryanne Kowaleski

Digital Pedagogy: Omeka Medieval London

Course syllabus for the 2015 offering of MV 4654 Medieval London at Fordham University

Mvst 4654 Medieval London: Bibliography For Reports, 2015, Maryanne Kowaleski

Digital Pedagogy: Omeka Medieval London

Bibliography of resources that will assist students in completing their object and site assignments for the 2015 offering of MV 4654 Medieval London at Fordham University

11, Depictions Of The Arch In Medieval Books Of Hours: Historic And Symbolic Origins, Caitlyn Au

Texts of Time

Caitlyn Au describes the use and meanings of the medieval arch shape as a frame for displaying illuminations within niches and through symbolic gateways.

The Struggle Between The Center And The Periphery: Justinian's Provincial Reforms Of The A.D. 530s, Mark-Anthony Karantabias

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation analyzes the struggle between the imperial court and the periphery in the context of Justinian’s reforms in the early A.D. 530s. The reforms targeting select Roman provinces sought to reduce the size of the imperial bureaucracy while simultaneously attempting to maintain imperial vertical authority. The reforms epitomize the imperial court’s struggle to rein in the imperial bureaucracy in the provinces of the Roman Empire. The analysis is framed within the cultural, social, political and economic evolution occurring in Late Antiquity. It shall be proposed that the reforms are one example of the imperial court’s attempt to limit the …

A Tender Spot: Care, Memory, And Place In Carolingian Memoria Mortuorum, Amber Suzanne Mcclure

Theses and Dissertations--History

This thesis argues that in the Carolingian period, the rituals for the memory of the dead, or memoria mortuorum, was built on structures that utilized location, space, and architecture as devices for creating mnemonic images for remembering. It also argues for the theological significance of memoria mortuorum, which was heavily debated, and that from Augustine to the Carolingians there is a shift in approaches to the theological aspects of practices including burial ad sanctos and communal prayers. Augustine’s work left an unresolved problem: the need to reconcile the theological aspect with the mnemonic function of memory practices for the …

Interrogating The "Collapse" Of The Roman Empire: Historiography And Instruction, Jon Pesner

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

No abstract provided.

Landisfarne Gospels, Tye Boudra-Bland

History Class Publications

The Lindisfarne Gospels are an illuminated manuscript, written between 680 and 720 by a monk working on the island of Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, which is off the northern coast of England.¹ An illuminated manuscript is a codex, or book, that is written by hand and is richly decorated with intricate designs and pictures and was the typical way that documents were copied. Until the invention of the printing press, manuscripts were the only way that books and records were documented and distributed. The complex and beautiful designs were often complimented by a jeweled or expensive cover …

The Bayeux Tapestry, Andrew Gatlin

History Class Publications

The Bayeux Tapestry is a massive, 70 meters by 20 cm (about 230 feet by 20 inches), piece of embroidered cloth that depicts a period of history in England from the events of King Edward’s reign to the period of the Norman Invasion and finally ending with the battle of Hastings and some of its after effects. The tapestry was commissioned by Odo the Bishop of Bayeux, the half-brother of William of Normandy (The Conqueror), but was produced in Brittan not Bayeux, France. The Tapestry itself is not in fact a tapestry at all as the embroidery which was used …

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2015

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

“Of The Ruin And Conquest Of Britain”: The Anglo-Saxon Transformation Of The British Isles, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The history of Britain after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire has traditionally been perceived as one of invasion and domination at the hands of Germanic peoples most commonly known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Though this is the narrative presented by medieval authors, current archaeology suggests that the settlement of Germanic peoples in Britain was peaceful and characterized by cohabitation and acculturation. Further examination and contextualization of the most nearly-contemporary sources reveal discrepancies of chronology and causation which indicate that medieval authors constructed their accounts based not upon an understanding of any Anglo-Saxon invasion but rather upon …

Robot Saints, Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

In the Middle Ages, articulating religious figures like wooden Deposition crucifixes and ambulatory saints were tools for devotion, techno-mythological objects that distilled the wonders of engineering and holiness. Robots are gestures toward immortality, created in the face of the undeniable fact and experience of the ongoing decay of our fleshy bodies. Both like and unlike human beings, robots and androids occupy a nebulous perceptual realm between life and death, animation and inanimation. Masahiro Mori called this in-between space the “uncanny valley.” In this essay I argue that unlike a modern person apprehending an android (the uncanny human-like object that resides …

"And They Shall Be Two In One Flesh": The Battle Over The Virgin's Body In The Life Of Christina Of Markyate, Alexandra Locking

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

“…Tamquam Civili Causa” – The Reception Of Vegetius And Frontinus In Geremia Da Montagnone’S Compendium Moralium Notabilium, Aaron J. Bolarinho

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis explores the transmission of the Epitome Rei Militaris of Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus and the Strategemata of Sextus Iulius Frontinus in the Compendium Moralium Notabilium. Completed by Paduan judge Geremiah of Montagnone in around 1310, the Compendium Moralium Notabilium is a large medieval florilegium contemporary with Thomas of Ireland’s Manipulus Florem. The Compendium is distinct from typical medieval florilegium due to its lay author, its internal organisation, and its inclusion of many classical Roman and Greek authors as well as common Italian proverbs and secular liturature. The Compendium also includes over 199 distinct selections from the military manuals …

Monstrous Muslims? Depicting Muslims In French Illuminated Manuscripts From 1200-1420, Benjamin Anthony Bertrand

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper examines depictions of Muslims in illuminated manuscripts produced in France between 1200-1420 that feature images of Christian-Muslim interactions. The study specifically looks at three popular manuscripts from the time: the Histoire d'Outremer, the Grandes Chroniques de France, and the Roman d'Alexandre en Prose. By examining the depictions of Saracens in these three manuscripts I attempt to gain an understanding of the artists' perceptions of Muslims. I argue that through analyzing the topoi employed by these artists we can understand how they and their audiences viewed Muslims. These images demonstrate that these artists understood Saracens to …

The Ethics Of Mourning: The Role Of Material Culture And Public Politics In The 'Book Of The Duchess' And The 'Pearl' Poem, Tarren Andrews

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project is a socio-historic analysis of two late 14^th century dream visions: Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess and the Pearl poem. Utilizing Robert Pogue Harrison’s concept of objectifying grief through ritualized communal mourning, this thesis examines the ways in which mourning literature functioned as consolatory device, and a form of public performance for the powerful patrons who commissioned the pieces. By engaging with pre-existing communities of grief, material culture, and courtly discourse these poems perform the work of mourning while simultaneously enacting modes of public performativity that stress the ethics of grieving, and suggest that, for royal patrons, …

"From The Many, One? The Shared Manuscripts Of The Chronicle Of Theophanes And The Chronography Of Synkellos," Studies In Theophanes (Travaux Et Mémoires 19) Paris, 2015: Pp. 93-117, Jesse Torgerson

Jesse W Torgerson