The religious landscape of the tenth century is usually described as consisting of a hotchpotch of localities. Defining what was ‘local’ in the Middle Ages, however, is rather difficult for modern scholars. It could comprise a diocese, a town, a monastery, or a community of canons – all entities that were not necessarily separate from…
In any historical period, the expansion of new cults and the new texts accompanying them, serve for the commemoration of the past. But such expansion also reflects – whether consciously or unconsciously – the needs of the society at that time. Thus the apparition of new feasts and new saints’ lives and the more active…
The characterisation of the tenth century as a dark age for historical written sources has deep roots. But the liturgy constitutes one area where manuscripts survive in increasing quantities from the years 900 to 1050 compared to those copied in the previous century and a half. Moreover, such records exist for communities for which we…
The Vatican library has digitised a host of new manuscripts, including a beautiful Ottonian evangeliary, Reg.lat.15. These images are now available to view online. More details about the digitised manuscripts at the Vatican library can be found here: https://macrotypography.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/ottonian-artistry.html
Hello, I am Ekaterina Novokhatko, the PhD fellow for the ‘After Empire’ project based in Barcelona. Our project here deals with the Written Genesis of Catalonia during the long tenth century. Nowadays, nearly everyone seems to be talking about identity: religious, national, cultural, social or ethnic. Comparison and opposition between personalities, social groups or even…
