Medieval Studies Commons^™

In Memoriam Karl Heinz Göller (May 13, 1924 - April 22, 2009), Richard Utz

Medieval Institute Affiliated Faculty & Staff Publications

Eulogy on academic teacher, adviser, and mentor; founding dean of the College of Languages and Literatures at the University of Regensburg, Germany; and founder and honorary president of the German Medieval Academy (Mediävistenverband).

Minhag And Migration: A Yiddish Custom Book From Venice, 1553, Lucia Raspe

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

This presentation focuses on a Yiddish book of customs written in Venice in the mid-sixteenth century, which describes synagogue and home observances over the course of the Jewish year. Comparing MS Oxford Can. Or. 12 to the fifteenth-century Hebrew custumal it is based on (MS Frankfurt hebr. oct. 227), the presentation will discuss the efforts of Ashkenazic émigrés to northern Italy trying to preserve their identity in the face of a Jewish world suddenly become complex.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Book of Customs (MS Frankfurt hebr. oct. 227)
• Book of Customs (MS Oxford Can. Or. 12)

Ladies, Whores, And Holy Women: A Sourcebook In Courtly, Religious, And Urban Cultures Of Late Medieval Germany, Ann Marie Rasmussen, Sarah Westphal-Wihl

TEAMS Medieval German Texts in Bilingual Editions

This sourcebook presents editions and translations of seven fourteenth- and fifteenth-century texts that advance our understanding of gender, sexuality, and class in the late medieval German-speaking world. Three of the translated texts are fiction. Additionally, there is a religious treatise, a religious legend, an inventory of books, and a legal document. While each of these texts is instructive in and of itself, they gain in complexity when brought into dialogue with one another.

The Cistercian Studies Conference, 2010, The Institute Of Cistercian Studies

Conference on Cistercian Studies Programs

Program for the 2010 Cistercian Studies Conference at Western Michigan University in conjunction with the International Medieval Studies Congress. This conference was a celebration of the 1110-1178 life of Aelred of Rievaulx. This conference happened between May 13-16.

45th International Congress On Medieval Studies, Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

International Congress on Medieval Studies Archive

The printed program of the 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 13-16, 2010), including the Corrigenda.

In Praise Of The Saints: Introducing Medieval Hagiography Into The British Literature Survey, John P. Sexton

English Faculty Publications

Despite increased interest in hagiographic writing among scholars of early literature in the last few decades, serious study of saints’ lives in the undergraduate classroom remains rare. To some degree, this is a result of poor representation in the leading anthologies,^[1]but another contributing factor has been the perception of a distinction between hagiographic and other medieval writing it terms of genre or of literary value. Such distinctions, however, are modern inventions, and do not accurately reflect the medieval reader or writer’s view. Nor is the inclusion of the literature alongside the expected “great works” difficult or jarring; a …

Borrowing In Context : The Importance And Artistic Implications Of Chaucer's Use Of Sources In The Merchant's Tale, Austin Taylor Mcintire

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In this thesis, I consider the implications of Chaucer not only as a man of his age but also as a poet who made deliberate decisions to borrow, imitate, and adapt the work of others, specifically in the context of The Merchant’s Tale. Chapter I of this thesis establishes the significance of the medieval understanding of auctor and auctoritas during the medieval literary period and, furthermore, examines Chaucer’s artistic output both during his career as a court poet and following his removal to Kent in an attempt to reach a clearer understanding of Chaucer’s use of source material when composing …

Medieval Synagogues In The Mediterranean Region, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

Throughout the Middle Ages, the synagogue developed as the central identifying institution and physical building for Jews, replacing the still yearned for but increasingly distant Jerusalem Temple as the focus of Jewish identity. Equally important, the synagogue became the symbol par excellance of the Jews and their community for the Christian (or Muslim) majority populations in the countries where Jews were settled. For Christians, the synagogue was a Jewish church, but much more so, it came to symbolize in opposition all that the church represented.

Though relatively little known today, medieval synagogues were not symbolic abstractions to the men and …

John Of Cermenate, Martina Saltamacchia

Medieval/Renaissance Studies Faculty Publications

John of Cermenate ca 1280-1344. Town chronicler and notary. Author of Historia Iohannis de Cermenate notarii Mediolanensis in Latin prose, completed ca. 1322.

Stefanandro Of Vimercate, Martina Saltamacchia

Medieval/Renaissance Studies Faculty Publications

Stefanardo da Vimercate [Stephanus de Mediolano] ca 1230(?)-1298. Town chronicler and Dominican lecturer of Theology.

The Pencil, The Pin, The Table, The Bowl And The Wheel, Valerie Allen

Publications and Research

The commodity created under global capitalism originates from everywhere and seems to have been made by everyone. Endlessly fungible, it is also endlessly divisible. Analysis of the commodity reveals the indissoluble link between commodification and technologization. Although the medieval commodity is a very different kind of object, not issuing from an economy dedicated to commodity production, and being produced more regionally, the link between production and technology applies to the Middle Ages as much as it does to now. Medieval technology, in particular road-building, is commonly regarded as a regression in comparison to Roman engineering skills. I argue, however, for …