This study centers on issues of marginality and monstrosity in medieval England. In the middle ages, geography was viewed as divinely ordered, so Britain's location at the periphery of the inhabitable world caused anxiety among its inhabitants. Far from the world's holy center, the geographic margins were considered monstrous. Medieval geography, for centuries scorned as crude, is now the subject of several careful studies. Monsters have likewise been the subject of recent attention in the growing field of "monster studies," though few works situate these creatures firmly in their specific...
This study centers on issues of marginality and monstrosity in medieval England. In the middle ages, geography was viewed as divinely ordered, so Brit...
Chretien de Troyes uses repeated references to Spain throughout his romances; despite past suggestions that they contain Mozarabic and Islamic themes and motifs, these references have never been commented upon. The book will demonstrate that these allusions to Spain occur at key moments in the romances, and are often coupled with linguistic "riddles" which serve as roadmaps to the manner in which the romances are to be read. These references and riddles seem to support the idea that some of their themes and motifs in Chretien's romances are of Andalusi origin. The book also analyzes...
Chretien de Troyes uses repeated references to Spain throughout his romances; despite past suggestions that they contain Mozarabic and Islamic themes ...
"Rooted in the Earth, Rooted in the Sky" is a detailed study of the medicine of Hildegard of Bingen, a medieval mystic, theologian and composer, who also wrote a practical medical text. Although there has been an explosion of interest in Hildegard's music, theology, illuminations and medicine in the last two decades, this is the first book to use her remarkable text to revise not only our conception of Hildegard but also of premodern medicine itself. It does so by contextualizing her work with primary and secondary historical sources, unedited manuscripts, anthropological and archeological...
"Rooted in the Earth, Rooted in the Sky" is a detailed study of the medicine of Hildegard of Bingen, a medieval mystic, theologian and composer, who a...
She, This in Blak takes a fresh look at Chaucer's great Trojan romance, Troilus and Criseyde, in light of recent scholarship on late scholastic discourses on representation and causality as they pertain to human perception and judgment. This study also contributes to a growing literature on the impact of scholastic psychological theory upon contemporary cultural forms by examining the way in which late medieval accounts of perception and cognition can illuminate the construction of the poem's subjects, including one of the most compelling and controversial figures in medieval literature,...
She, This in Blak takes a fresh look at Chaucer's great Trojan romance, Troilus and Criseyde, in light of recent scholarship on late scholastic dis...
This study first examines the marginal repertoire in two well-known manuscripts, the Psalter of Guy de Dampierre and an Arthurian Romance, within their material and codicological contexts. This repertoire then provides a template for an extended study of the marginal motifs that appear in eighteen related manuscripts, which range from a Bible to illustrated versions of the encyclopedias of Vincent de Beauvais and Brunetto Latini. Considering the manuscript as a whole work of art, the marginalia's physical relationship to nearby texts and images can shed light on the reception of these...
This study first examines the marginal repertoire in two well-known manuscripts, the Psalter of Guy de Dampierre and an Arthurian Romance, within thei...
This book tells the story of the early modern astronomer Johannes Kepler's Somnium, which has been regarded by science historians and literary critics alike as the first true example of science fiction. Kepler began writing his complex and heavily-footnoted tale of a fictional Icelandic astronomer as an undergraduate and added to it throughout his life. The Somnium fuses supernatural and scientific models of the cosmos through a satirical defense of Copernicanism that features witches, lunar inhabitants, and a daemon who speaks in the empirical language of modern science....
This book tells the story of the early modern astronomer Johannes Kepler's Somnium, which has been regarded by science historians and literary crit...
Larson examines the changing relations between lords and peasants in post-Black Death Durham. This was a time period of upheaval and change, part of the transition from 'medieval' to 'modern.' Many historians have argued about the nature of this change and its causes, often putting forth a single all-encompassing model; Larson presses for the importance of individual choice and action, resulting in a flexible, human framework that provides a more appropriate explanation for the many paths followed in this period.
The theoretical side is balanced by an 'on the ground' examination of...
Larson examines the changing relations between lords and peasants in post-Black Death Durham. This was a time period of upheaval and change, part o...
This work investigates the medieval understanding of sacred place and argues for the centrality of bodies and bodily metaphors to the establishment, function, use, and power of medieval churches. Using Chartres Cathedral as a focal point, the intimate relationship between the two facades of Christian sacred place, building and body are laid bare and the traditional division of sacred and profane jurisdictions are questioned. Examining non-devotional uses of churches in the Middle Ages, Dawn Marie Hayes shows how the tension between the jurisdictions of sacred and profane operated as a...
This work investigates the medieval understanding of sacred place and argues for the centrality of bodies and bodily metaphors to the establishment, f...
