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Dies Legibiles V

Dies Legibiles

Welcome to the fifth volume of Dies Legibiles!

As always, I was blown away this year by the superb work undergraduate students submitted to this journal, some first forays into medieval studies and others final projects before pursuing a graduate degree in the field. If the submissions to Dies Legibiles are any indication, the next generation of medievalists are thinking deeply about the past, about which histories have been neglected, and about what those histories reveal about the present moment.

Disrupting The Timeline: Challenging Notions Of A Singular, Linear Early Muslim Historiography, Grayson D. Shaw

Pomona Senior Theses

Few historical events have received the same attention in the formative years of Islam as the so-called “‘Abbāsid Revolution” in 132 AH/750 CE. In both the medieval and modern contexts, this event has been recognized as a monumental formation from which the rest of Islamic history comes downstream from. Problematically, there are no cohesive historical sources from the losers of this conflict; the Umayyads. Utilizing numismatic and architectural evidence, I argue that the alleged rupture between the Umayyads and their ‘Abbāsid successors is overblown by historiography two centuries after the fact. Then, I further analyze what this continuity means for …

The People Of The North: Influencer Histories And Miniaturization In Eleventh-Century Italy, Evan Anthony Simonetti

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Norman invasion of Italy in the eleventh century was a process that required political support and legitimacy for its leaders, the Hauteville dynasty. The members of this dynasty either commissioned or financed three individuals as they wrote three respective histories of the Norman conquest in order to accomplish this legitimation. In these sources, each author took inspiration from the classic works of history and poetry of the Greek and Roman world and applied symbolism and direction from their understanding of medieval Christian theology. In addition, these works catalogued examples of events, people, places, animals, and behavior as exotic objects …

One Object, Fluctuating Trajectories: Harnessing The Document Future Of Premodern Manuscripts, L.P. Coladangelo, Rose A. Mccandless

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Using copy theory as a framework to explore document surrogacy and simulation, this paper discusses premodern manuscripts as a case study for understanding relevant aspects of temporality and materiality in the experience of documents to speculate on the nature of immersive documents of the future. This speculation is powered on mapping and synthesizing the paths of interconnected temporal and material change manuscripts have followed by examining multiple “versions” of these documents based on various contexts of use and access and technological innovations. As hand copied documents of similar texts, premodern manuscripts are posited as both copies and originals depending on …

Antillia, Kelsie Ogden

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

History, Mythology, and Fantasy are all considered to hold different ideas surrounding truth. More often than not, it is harder to draw this line than one might think. Through this thesis, an argument is made surrounding the legendary island Antillia and where this mythical island falls into more categories than one. Through the carefully crafted journal writings of the Viking, Ragnar, and the wondrous diary entries of Medieval widow, Ivette, the search for this island comes to a head. What waits upon this island, however, is a cure to the very essence of these two characters and others like them– …

Lilac Divinity: The Socio-Religious Transformation Of The Capetian Monarchy, Michael Earth Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study considers an alternative explanation for the ascendancy of the Capetian monarchy during the High Middle Ages. Through a broad consideration of notable kings across a large time period, I argue that the kings of France knowingly participated in a process of spiritual and cultural embellishment that traditional, comparative models have failed to properly assess. The paper begins with a short introduction and is followed by a consideration of how the Middle Ages have been framed historiographically. The next section offers a historiographical overview of feudalism to contextualize persistent issues in the field. The remaining sections consist largely of …

Resilience And Evolution: The Transformative Impact Of The Black Death On Women’S Roles In Medieval England, Kaylee N. Vitato

The Cardinal Edge

"Resilience and Evolution: The Transformative Impact of the Black Death on Women’s Roles in Medieval England" delves into the nuanced effects of the Black Death on gender dynamics in medieval England. While there were positive shifts in attitudes toward women's roles, persistent challenges, such as unequal employment conditions, lower wages compared to men, and negative household stereotypes, endured. The research examines alterations in labor markets, inheritance norms, property laws, and domestic dynamics to uncover the multifaceted impact of the Black Death on the evolution of women's roles. Despite emerging opportunities for women in previously male-dominated spheres, the analysis also reveals …

Disease And Discrimination: The Persecution Of Jews In The Holy Roman Empire During The Black Death, Abigail M Stanger

The Cardinal Edge

The Black Death, the second major plague pandemic caused by the spread of the bacteria Yersinia pestis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire in 1348. Throughout its spread until 1352, the plague devastated residents of the Holy Roman Empire regardless of demographic features. However, Christians at the time believed that members of Jewish communities died at significantly lower rates than themselves, and already existing sentiments of antisemitism grew into the assignment of blame onto Jews. This concurrent spread of plague and antisemitism resulted in pogroms and other forms of mass violence against Jewish communities across Europe, but specifically in the …

Des Rois Anglais Qui Parlent Français : Une Etude Sur La Situation Linguistique En Angleterre Après La Conquête Normande, Trent Dunkin

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Prior to 1066, England was ruled by the Germanic speaking Anglo-Saxons. However, after the defeat of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror became King of England, ushering in a lengthy era in which English monarchs were primarily francophone. This article explores the linguistic situation in England before, during, and after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Specifically, this article looks at the Anglo-Norman dialect as a distinct Langue d’Oïl, focusing primarily on its phonetics, syntax, and orthography, using examples found in Laüstic and Chèvrefeuille, two lais written by Marie de France in the late 12 …

Remembering And Forgetting: National Identity Construction In Tolkien’S Middle-Earth, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

The medieval period in Europe saw the development of vernacular literatures, grown out of oral tradition and classical mythology, in which epic poems were a means of preserving culture, sharing a moral code, and offering solace in times of hardship. These epic poems, usually transcribed or translated in monastic scriptoria, were passed down through generations and enabled the sharing of memory via storytelling. In many ways, this early literature, rooted as it was in both the religious and the secular aspects of life in this time, was as much a part of the identity of the various European peoples as …

The Archbishopric Of Ohrid In The Mnemohistory Of The Church: A Bulgarian Historiographical Perspective, Ivan Yovchev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

After the fall of Bulgaria under Byzantine rule in 1018, the Bulgarian Patriarchate was downgraded in rank by the decrees (sigils) of Emperor Basil II from 1019–1025. It was declared a Bulgarian autocephalous archdiocese with its seat in Ohrid, the last Bulgarian capital and the former seat Bulgarian patriarch. The diocese, its Bulgarian nationality, and the rights of its First Hierarch were defined by three sigils of Emperor Basil II, which outlined the rights of the Ohrid Archbishopric. In sources from the 11th-12th centuries, it is referred to as the Bulgarian Archbishopric. Its independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople was …

Notes On Contributors

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Early English Queens, 650–850: Speculum Reginae, Theresa Earenfight

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Trans And Genderqueer Subjects In Medieval Hagiography, Erik Wade

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Authority, Gender, And Space In The Anglo-Norman World, 900–1200, Marisa Mills

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

A Mother’S Manual For The Women Of Ferrara: A Fifteenth-Century Guide To Pregnancy And Pediatrics, S.C. Kaplan

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Addressing Women In Early Medieval Religious Texts, Jo Koster

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Gender And Exemplarity In Medieval And Early Modern Spain, Emily C. Francomano

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Women And Monastic Reform In The Medieval West, C. 1000–1500: Debating Identities, Creating Communities, Gabrielle F. Storey

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Visualizing Household Health: Medieval Women, Art, And Knowledge In The Régime Du Corps, Kaitlin Sager

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.