Medieval History Commons^™

Abbot Suger's Silent Soliloquy Of Public Aesthetics In The Medieval Saint Denis Abbey, Sandra Jean Ceas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abbot Suger transformed the twelfth-century medieval Saint Denis abbey from a didactic Romanesque prayer hall to a spiritually illuminating pre-Gothic worship center. The extant culture, although primarily illiterate, was poised on the threshold of Scholasticism, the rational pursuit of "reason," which challenged the Christian doctrine of "faith." Abbot Suger, fully aware of the secular threat, was suitably positioned to be a significant instrument for saving souls from the diversion of their trust in God toward a reliance on logical thinking. Suger undertook a major art restoration campaign for the Saint Denis abbey to create an environment of public aesthetics that …

English King And German Commoner: An Exploration Of Sixteenth Century Clothing And Identity, Bradley Dale Moore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper will explore the connections of clothing and identity in the sixteenth century. The fit and construction of clothing can be directly related to how a person is perceived, or indeed, how one perceives one's self. Henry VIII (1491-1547) of England will be compared and contrasted with Matthäus Schwarz (1496-1574), a commoner from Augsburg, Germany. Tudor will represent how identity can be created for others, particularly through legislation and courtly life; while Schwarz' own words will assist in the exploration of the identity of the individual.

Ritual, Culture, And Power: Politics And The Shrine Of Notre-Dame De Cambron, 1322-1329, Benjamin Wright

The Hilltop Review

Does religious ritual transform political identities? Political identities often rise out of culture; and cultures in turn are shaped by the countless manifestations of religious ritual. It should come as no surprise that this triangle of ritual, culture, and power is used as a tool for the construction of the homogeneous political identities upon which nation states are created. The case study of the religious cult center of Notre-Dame de Cambron, a 14th century pilgrimage shrine in Belgium a few miles from the French border, provides one example of this triangularity. In the midst of its bicultural region, Cambron's shrine …

Viking Women In The Isle Of Man, Valerie Dawn Hampton

The Hilltop Review

The gender roles of important women in the Viking controlled Isle of Man has never been studied before. This is an exceptional case as women were not normally so influential in the Middle Ages, especially in Viking controlled regions. By examining memorial stones, burial goods, and their excavated skeletal remains, certain facts about Viking women's life in Medieval Manx society can be discerned. The visual remains of the Viking period in Mann, covering the ninth to thirteenth centuries, emphasizes the influence of women, confirming their importance in the kingdom's language, society, and religion.

Power, Piety, And Rebellion In Al-Andalus: The Reception And Influence Of Al-Ghazali's Political Philosophy In Islamic Iberia, Patrick Harris

The Hilltop Review

Dissident Muslims have utilized discourses of pious rulership to justify their revolt against centralized authority at least as far back as the Kharijite rebellion in the 1st/7th century, which, in turn, resulted in the first major schism within the Islamic community. One may, indeed, interpret the very founding of Islam, in part, as a pietist response to a Meccan regime which fostered an environment of injustice and iniquity. Thus, the need for a pious rulership has been at the heart of Islamic political sensibility, if not from its very foundation, then at least from its first division. Rebels and reformers …

Lobos Y Perros Rabiosos: The Legacy Of The Inquisition In The Colonization Of New Spain And New Mexico, C. Michael Torres

Student Papers (History)

No abstract provided.

A Spectacle Of Great Beauty: The Changing Faces Of Hagia Sophia, Victoria M. Villano

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Students Teaching Students: Lgbtq History, Brian Stack

Senior Honors Projects

When the Students Teaching Students program called for submissions for student created courses I jumped at the opportunity to learn and share with a group of peers dedicated to a subject. The close to year long process culminated in the first Students Teaching Students course at URI, focusing on the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people: HPR 107: Introduction to LGBTQ History.

Just getting ready to teach was a multifaceted process, since I tend to fluctuate between ravenously seizing every book I can get my hands on and devising practical applications for that intellectual knowledge. First …

Comparative Perspectives On History And Historians: Essays In Memory Of Bryce Lyon (1920-2007), David Nicholas, James M. Murray, Bernard S. Bachrach

Festschriften, Occasional Papers, and Lectures

Comparative Perspectives on History and Historians: Essays in Memory of Bryce Lyon (1920-2007) features a section of appreciations of Bryce Lyon from the three editors, R. C. Van Caenegem, and Walter Prevenier, followed by three sections on the major areas on which Lyon's research concentrated: the legacy of Henri Pirenne, constitutional and legal history of England and the Continent, and the economic history of the Low Countries. Original essays by Bernard S. Bachrach, David S. Bachrach, Jan Dumolyn, Caroline Dunn, Jelle Haemers, John H. A. Munro, James M. Murray, Anthony Musson, David Nicholas, W. Mark Ormrod, Walter Prevenier, Jeff Rider, …

Dismemberment And Devotion: Anatomical Votive Dedication In Italian Popular Religion, Lindsay R. Morehouse

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Anatomical votives are religious offerings that are made to look like body parts and are dedicated in exchange for healing. In many cases, they are dedicated to intermediary figures as a way to bridge the worlds of human and divine. There is evidence that Anatomical votives have been offered in Italy from the middle of the first millennia BCE to the present. This paper examines Etruscan, Greco-Roman, and Christian cults in order to explore continuity and change in this practice over time within Italy.

The Mayor And Early Lollard Dissemination, Angel Gomez

HIM 1990-2015

During the fourteenth century in England there began a movement referred to as Lollardy. Throughout history, Lollardy has been viewed as a precursor to the Protestant Reformation. There has been a long ongoing debate among scholars trying to identify the extent of Lollard beliefs among the English. Attempting to identify who was a Lollard has often led historians to look at the trial records of those accused of being Lollards. One aspect overlooked in these studies is the role civic authorities, like the mayor of a town, played in the heresy trials of suspected Lollards. Contrary to existing beliefs that …

The Unbought Grace Of Life: Chivalry In Western Literature, Richard N. Boggs

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

The code of chivalry has a rich literary history. From the violence and misogyny of pre-chivalric ancient Greece and Rome, the chivalric code was constructed in a deliberate effort to curb and improve the most violent aspects of male behavior. The chivalric male ideal was built upon the tripartite foundation of the ancient archaic virtues, the gallantry of Germanic barbarians, and the Christian beatitudes. Chivalry sought a male ideal which brought raw strength and power under the concept of legitimate authority. By casting the literary male ideal – the knight – into the role of the defender of the weak …

Front Matter, Medieval Feminist Forum, V.47 No.2 2011

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

An Apostolic Vocation: The Formation Of The Religious Life For The Dominican Sisters In The Thirteenth Century, Julie Ann Smith

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Picturing Maternal Anxiety In The Miracle Of The Jew Of Bourges, Carlee A. Bradbury

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Skirts And Politics: The Cistercian Monastery Of Harvestehude And The Hamburg City Council, Cordelia Heß

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Back Matter, Medieval Feminist Forum, V.47 No.2 2011

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

"So Stirring A Woman Was She": A Closer Look At Early Modern Representations Of Matilda, Lady Of The English, Megan L. Benson

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis attempts to recover the representations of Matilda, Lady of the English, who nearly became queen of England in 1141. In 1127 Matilda became the heir to her father, Henry I, following the death of her brother in 1120. She was unable to claim the throne immediately following her father’s death in 1135, which allowed her cousin Stephen of Blois to do so. With the help of her half-brother Robert, Earl of Gloucester, she launched an unsuccessful war effort to claim her throne in 1139. Modern historians have flatly labeled her a failure due to the fact she was …

The Life And Works Of Rashīd Al-Dīn: Jewish Vizier In The Mongol Ilkhanid Court, Sienna Z. Jackson

Featured Research

In this paper I wish to illuminate the life of historian and author Rashīd al-Dīn Fadhl-allāh Hamadānī, a Jewish vizier during the rule of the Mongol Ilkhans in Iran. By gaining a better grasp of the man’s personal biography, I hope to give insight into his life’s most notable work: the Jami al-Tawarikh, or the Compendium of Chronicles (ca. 1305-06), the first comprehensive world history of its kind ever produced and Rashid al-Din’s greatest contribution to Ilkhanid literary space. It serves as our best source for understanding the Pax Mongolica of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that embraced Iran, and …

Christian Mysticism As A Threat To Papal Traditions, Hayley E. Pangle

Grand Valley Journal of History

A human universal found across many of the world's cultures is the mystical aspect of a religion that serves, in many ways, as a reaction against the dogmatic, ritualistic tradition of the same religion. Christian mystics of medieval Europe presented a direct confrontation to papal traditions in that they challenged the church through their theological interpretations of scripture, their graphic visions, and their threat to established gender roles.