Thietmar of Merseburg – After Empire

The Christmas messages of tenth-century bishops

Later this month, heads of state throughout the world will deliver their Christmas messages, which tend to stress reconciliation and unity, but can also, more rarely, contain words of admonition and even invective. Although the modern ‘Christmas message’ given by heads of state on national television is a relatively recent invention, the feast has been…

The tenth-century episcopacy as a commonwealth of learning

July 25, 2018Jelle WassenaarResearch BlogBishops, Canon Law, Communication, Episcopacy, Gerbert of Aurillac, Learning, Letters, Rather of Verona, Thietmar of Merseburg

Historians of early modern Europe have traced the emergence of a ‘republic of letters’ from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. Their studies have shown how letter writing, humanist friendship, travel, and the use of Latin as a common language fostered a group identity among European scholars that transcended borders and political allegiances. From the…

After Empire

Using and Not Using the Past in the Crisis of the Carolingian World, c. 900-1050

Tag: Thietmar of Merseburg

The Christmas messages of tenth-century bishops

The tenth-century episcopacy as a commonwealth of learning