Spaniards often feel surprised when they visualise the renowned drawing reproduced below, ascribed (erroneously as it seems, but that is another story) to Lucas Cornelisz van Kunst, the successful Dutch painter of the Tudor era. A brief glance to John of Gaunt’s portrait suffices to notice the distinctive coat of arms of the English members of t…[Read more]

The thirteenth-century medieval scribe, the ‘Tremulous Hand of Worcester’ is known for the tremor visible in his script. Thorpe and Alty combine historical analysis with the first neurological study of the scribe’s handwriting. After considering various differential diagnoses, they conclude that the balance of evidence favours essential tremor.

This article scrutinises three marginal drawings in LJS 361, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Libraries. It first considers the provenance of the manuscript, questioning how it got into the hands of children. Then, it combines developmental psychology with close examination of the…[Read more]

Thābit b. Qurra (d. 288/901), a Sabian of Ḥarrān, and his descendants remained in their ancestral religion for six generations. Why did they persist despite pressure to convert? This article argues that religious self-identification as a Sabian could be a distinct advantage in Baghdad’s elite circles. It focuses on Thābit’s great-grandson Abū…[Read more]

In this paper I outline a historical materialist framework for the transhistorical critique of ethnicity, providing a case study in the shaape of Armenian settlements in medieval New Rome. This is necessary since constructivism – the dominant theoretical tradition of the last forty years or so – has failed to dethrone common sense, met…[Read more]

Review of the collected volume Court Ceremonies and Rituals of Power in Byzantium and the Eastern Mediterranean.

From Constantinople to the Frontier: The City and the Cities provides twenty-five articles addressing the concept of centres and peripheries in the late antique and Byzantine worlds, focusing specifically on urban aspects of this paradigm. Spanning from the fourth to thirteenth centuries, and ranging from the later Roman empires to the early…[Read more]

This essay explores the impact of digitized and born-digital special collections on teaching, learning, and research, and, through institutional case studies, considers the variety of collaborative opportunities made possible by the digitization of special collections.

This essay explores the impact of digitized and born-digital special collections on teaching, learning, and research, and, through institutional case studies, considers the variety of collaborative opportunities made possible by the digitization of special collections.

Review of a collection of essays on classical literature and medieval Irish narrative.

Review of a collection of essays on classical literature and medieval Irish narrative.

Edition des ‘Kommunionverbots der Diözese Eichstätt’ des Johann von Eych aus dem Jahre 1456 nach dem Erstdruck in den ‘Statuta synodalia Eystettensia et provincialia Maguntina’ (Eichstätt Michael Reyser 15.03.1484).

Marco Heiles, Johann von Eych: Kommunionverbot für die Diözese Eichstätt. Edition und Kommentar, in: Mittelalter. Inter…[Read more]

Front matter and introduction from my monograph Popular Romance in Iceland

Introduction to a late medieval Icelandic romance along with a normalized Old Norse text and facing page modern English translation.

Overview of the relationships between the older manuscripts preserving the medieval Icelandic romance Nítíða saga, with a rough stemma