Participants: Stefan Esders (Berlin), Sarah Greer (St Andrews), Sarah Hamilton (Exeter), Alice Hicklin (Berlin), Simon MacLean (St Andrews), Ekaterina Novokhatko (Barcelona), Lenneke van Raaij (Exeter), Matthias M. Tischler (Barcelona), Jelle Wassenaar (Vienna) Philippe Depreux (Hamburg), Sumi Shimahara (Paris), Charles West (Sheffield) This synergy event allowed scholars to investigate several important manuscripts located in Catalan archives…
Although this fourth-century saint had become popular very early among the eastern Christians, in Western Europe St Alexius was the recipient of a wave of devotion only in the ninth and tenth century. From the ninth century onwards, different versions of his life spread in diverse religious communities from Spain to England. Around 1040 his…
One of the genres of source that I’m closely working with as part of the After Empire project is genealogies. Genealogies are especially interesting texts both for the questions that this project is investigating and for my own research interests: how do people engage with the past? And how in particular do they engage with…
Not only were the deeds of saints recorded in hagiographical sources; we regularly find traces of a local past as well. These traces can explain what elements of the past were important for a specific community. For example, in the following, I will argue that the Historia Miraculorum was written to justify a reform movement…
One of the most traumatic experiences of the ninth century, as Janet Nelson puts it, was the battle of Fontenoy, when the army of Charles the Bald and Louis the German met the troops of Lothar and of his nephew Pippin of Aquitaine on 25 June 841. The battle was significant in two respects: the…
In the Carolingian period, general oaths of fidelity like those sworn under Charlemagne, Louis the Pious or Charles the Bald created a direct personal bond between the adult male free population and the Carolingian ruler and his family. This has always been taken as indicating a comparatively high degree of statehood, as the oaths had…
In 933, Bishop Rather of Verona rebelled against his king. Together with the local count he invited Duke Arnulf of Bavaria and Carinthia to take over the Italian throne from King Hugh. Similar schemes had worked before: King Hugh himself had been invited to take over the Italian throne by another rebellious bishop in 926.…
Date: 11th- to 12th-century Place of Production: Reichenau/Paderborn, Germany Description: Portable altars were used by Christians to celebrate the Mass while traveling. On one long side is depicted the Baptism of Christ, attended by a veiled woman, possibly representing the Church, and Christ in Majesty, surrounded by Evangelist symbols. On the other long side, John the Baptist…
Date: 9th- to 11th-century Place of Production: Italy Description: This architectural element has decoration carved in flat raised relief on all four faces. The ornament on each face is different. Motifs, such as the as eyes of a lamb, are pointed up with lead- only the lead in the eyes now remains. There is a hole at…
Date: 10th- or 11th-Century Place of Production: Germany Description: This ring consists of multiple elements soldered together to create a rich, micro-architectural form, a feature typical of Ottonian goldsmithing. The varied techniques used in its fabrication resulted in areas of granulation, swabbed and twisted wires, and ribbons of bent wire, as well as cast, punched, and chased…
