The medieval castle is one of the most popular topics in medieval historiography and interest in this structure has institutionalized it in modern medieval scholarship. Unfortunately, this does not mean that modern historians understand it. The problem lies in the narrow and isolationist definition used by many scholars who see it as simply a fortified private residence representing and defending power. This thesis will demonstrate that the castle’s contemporaries understood it as an identifiable and distinguishable structure and symbol with a singular yet multi-dimensional characteristics as a fortified, personal, and multifunctional resource. The twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm has been chosen as a focus for this thesis because of the specific differences between the reigns of Henry I, Stephen, and Henry II. This period, particularly the nineteen years of Stephen’s reign, experienced significant castle warfare, which provides a great deal of material for this study. In chapters 1-3, each of the above characteristics and their corresponding details will be analysed individually. In chapter 4, three case studies will be presented to demonstrate how these independent characteristics were perceived of as acting simultaneously. Chapter 5 will compare perceptions of castles to other medieval buildings. Finally, chapter 6 will test the definition’s legitimacy by applying it beyond the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm. This dissertation will demonstrate that there was a contemporary understanding of the castle which encompassed its fortified nature, its personal possession, and its multifunctional resourcefulness. If we are to understand this phenomenon as its contemporaries did, then we need to alter our modern definition and expand our understanding in order to come to a truer and more complete appreciation of this essential resource in the Middle Ages.

In evaluating the Middle Ages on film, this thesis combines two different critical approaches, drawn from historiography on one side and semiotics on the other. In the first chapter, I argue that historiographic criticism has largely undermined our belief in a monolithic, objective History, and that modern historical enquiry contains a tacit admission of its own subjectivity. In Chapter Two, I use these admissions to argue the case for history on film, demonstrating that in terms of the construction of history, the processes of filmmaking closely resemble those of ‘doing’ history, and that criticisms of historical films are often the same criticisms which Historians raise in respect of their own works of ‘pure history’. In the remaining chapters (3-6), I look at specific examples of types of historical character, drawn from the medieval separation of society into “those who work, those who fight and those who pray”, as well as “those who rule”. In each case, I adopt a similar methodological approach, conducting close cinematographic analysis on a range of film extracts in order to see how filmmakers have tried to construct the past visually in their representation of historical characters. Here my arguments move away from historical criticism to focus instead on aesthetics and cinematography. The overall theory is that there exist two fundamental approaches to the medieval past in film: the first iconic and syntagmatic, the second paradigmatic. Iconic approaches, I argue, work to try to recreate the lost medieval referent by using aesthetic ‘signifiers’ in order to communicate their significance to a medieval audience. The paradigm, on the other hand, works in the opposite way; in order to explain a medieval object, the filmmaker casts about for modern equivalents to use as metaphors. Where the icon recreates the object to communicate the concept, the paradigm communicates the object by re-presenting the concept.

Within a few centuries after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, the descendants of Romans who had envisioned the world in terms of moral, civilized Romans and the savage barbarian ‘other’ had come to identify with those very barbarians. This thesis explores this shift from ‘Roman’ to ‘Gothic’ and ‘Frankish’ identities in sixth- and seventh-century Spain and Gaul through an examination of the ways ethnonyms were used in contemporary sources. Within the first section on Visigothic Spain, chapter one discusses the ‘Romans’ of the East—that is, the Byzantines—as portrayed by Isidore of Seville and John of Biclar. Chapter two covers ‘Romans’ of the West—the Hispano-Romans—who appear in John of Biclar’s Chronicle, a hagiographical Life, and civil and canon law. Chapter three discusses the use of ‘Goth’ as an ethnic descriptor, a religious identifier, and a political term. Chapter four begins the Gaul section with an examination of Gregory of Tours’ writings, showing that he wrote with a Roman mindset. Chapter five illustrates that Gregory’s contemporary, Venantius Fortunatus, selected ethnic labels like ‘Roman’ and ‘barbarian’ in his poems as rhetorical tools to allude and flatter. Chapter six shows how Fredegar, in the seventh century, employed ‘Frank’ as a political term more than his predecessors had, suggesting a change in mindset. Chapter seven confirms this change in hagiographical texts across the two centuries. Chapter eight examines the contemporary expectation that separate law codes should be written for each ethnic group and concludes that, while this encouraged ethnic diversity, it did not prevent individuals from identifying with the Franks politically. By distinguishing among different modes of identification these ethnonyms represented, we see that changes in political language facilitated changes in more traditionally ethnic language, and the shift from ‘Roman’ to other ethnic identities.

The Church always shown interest in the world of sick and those suffering. In its activities it was inspired by opinions and example of Jesus Christ. Help to those in need was considered as integral part of Churches mission. It responded to this challenge by organising help and care. Middle Ages were hard period afflicted by famine, epidemics or wars. Many due to these adverse conditions therefore found themselves in need of Churches care and cried for its help. The first part of the thesis was tasked with defining the term charity and focuses on the problematic of charity in period of early Christian Church. It briefly elaborates on Christian charity as a history of love, with Jesus Christ in its beginning as an impulse for apostles, first Christian communities, Christians living in age of persecution and later in times of free Church. The second part is dedicated to Middle Ages. It attempts to provide intellectual and social frame in which charity in this time found itself. In sub-chapters it determines the historical period of Middle Ages, characterises living conditions in that period with focus on social and economical aspects. Also a short excursion into Middle Age man's mind is taken. The last and the largest part of the thesis consists of description of charity work in the Middle Ages. It's...

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common general diseases in modern society Sweden. It is also one of the most common diseases traced within archaeological human remains. The aetiology of osteoarthritis has been widely debated within the field of medicine and paleopathology. The initial claim that the degenerative disease is caused by activity and ageing has been questioned and factors such as environment, diet and genetic markers has been brought up and to some extent studied. Even though osteoarthritis being one of the most common diseases recognized among archaeological human remains, it has during recent years often been neglected within the field and referred to mostly in different palaeopathological atlases. By studying human remains from the medieval churchyard of St: Hans in Visby, Gotland, the notion of osteoarthritis as a general disease in the past is discussed in the following study. The concept of a medieval “general public” is examined by looking at social strata through grave placement on the studied graveyard.

The two books presented by Walter of Milemete to Edward III in 1326-7 are treated together. Two campaigns of decoration are suggested for the Milemete Treatise: an original campaign c1326-7 and one largely executed by a single artist before Queen Isabella's fall from power c1330. Three campaigns of decoration are suggested for the companion volume the Holkham Secretum. An original campaign, perhaps earlier than that on the Milemete Treatise, but still c1326-7, a second campaign c1327-30 and later work added when the book was repaired c1340-50. The iconography of the Milemete Treatise is related to court models and the 'Flores Historiarum'. The iconography of the Holkham Secretum is seen as having been created in three campaigns related to the different artists who worked on the book. From an analysis of the documentary evidence concerning illuminators in England in the Middle Ages, a model is applied which suggests the existence of three major centres of illumination in England, Oxford, Cambridge and London, as well as minor regional towns which also supported illuminators. The localisation of liturgical manuscripts, the patronage evidence from both secular and liturgical manuscripts as well as iconographical and codicological comparisons, are all used to suggest that the first group of illuminators of the Holkham Secretum were based at oxford. The main group of the Milemete Treatise itself can be associated with these artists, but also with more metropolitan trends and London. The later work on the Holkham Secretum is associated with an 'Ely group' of manuscripts c1340-50, produced by artists who may have been based at Cambridge. 3 it is suggested that some artists may have been trained in one 'centre' or 'workshop', but could be itinerant. other artists appear to be more closely related to Court painting in London through their style and the iconography of their miniatures. At least two of the artists who worked on the Milemete Treatise and Holkham Secretum1 after the initial campaign, but before c1330, fall into the latter category.

This thesis is a study of the religious culture of the market-town parish of Wimborne Minster, Dorset, from c.1403-1640. Broadly, it is a contribution to the history of the English Reformation (or Reformations, as the historian pleases; capital 'R' or lower-case). Religious change is the most significant focus, but over a longer period of time than is usually allowed for. Such themes as lay control, tithe controversies, relations with the ordinary, and popular support for preaching and church music are considered, as well as theological issues about the nature of English and European Protestantism. The thesis includes quantitative evidence drawn from the parish churchwardens' accounts and also wills. The date range was chosen for a number of reasons. First, because the available evidence for the parish is unusually rich, and allows for a kind of sustained attention that cannot be directed towards other such parishes: Wimborne has among the earliest and most complete surviving churchwardens' accounts in England (beginning in 1403), as well as myriad other sources, including hundreds of wills, and corporation and church-court records. Secondly, as a means of pursuing Alexandra Walsham's 'migrations of the holy' agenda. Walsham believes that investigation of religious change in the late medieval and early modern periods is hindered by those very periodisations, which are in fact products of the changes in question; how, then, to study religious change without presupposing too much? To that end, the structure of this thesis is both chronological and thematic; and an attempt has been made to preserve what was unique and so important about the changes of the mid-sixteenth century, during the reigns of Henry VIII and his progeny, at the same time as revealing deeper structural changes - and continuities too. The broad division of the thesis is into two parts. This first three chapters, part one, establish the early religious scene in the parish, examining the legacy of the Minster's place as a mother church in the Anglo-Saxon landscape of east Dorset, and how parish identity and forms of self-organisation were put to the test during the reigns of Henry VIII and his son, Edward VI. In part two, the focus is the interaction between the parishioners and the parish's new governing structure, a closed corporation of 12 lay worthies; in particular, the governors' attempts to provide regular preaching of the most sophisticated kind, as well as elaborate polyphonic music, and disputes arising from their management of the tithes and the divisive behaviour of one preacher in particular.

Un corps de pierre : tel est l'objet de notre étude. Un corps de place aujourd'hui effacé. Le fantôme d'une ville bas-normande martyrisée en 1944, dont le périmètre s'est longtemps confondu avec le circuit fortifié, non seulement urbain mais castral. Dans le travail de recherche présenté ici, c'est au cadre matériel du Caen ancien que nous avons tâché de redonner virtuellement corps. C'est l'histoire de sa transformation que nous avons tenté de retracer: six siècles et demi d'évolution entre le moment de sa « formation » au Moyen Age et les prémices de sa « déformation» au Grand Siècle. En somme, c'est à établir la morphochronologie d'une capitale provinciale que nous nous sommes essayé. Mais corréler la morphogénèse urbaine et le phénomène de l'enclôture oblige à prendre en considération les « effets de paroi » que génèrent les enceintes au cours du temps. Aussi est-ce en nous fondant sur l'examen des rapports d'ordre architectural et urbanistique entretenus par les clôtures avec le territoire citadin au gré des conjonctures politico-militaires que nous avons cherché à déterminer le(s) rôle(s) joué(s) par les enceintes dans le processus morphogénique du Caen médiéval, renaissant et classique. Au bout du compte, c'est sur la nature même de ces organes enveloppants que nous avons été conduit à nous interroger : tiennent-ils exclusivement de la « carapace » ou relèvent-ils aussi de la « chrysalide » ? De fait, opèrent-ils seulement comme une « barrière » de croissance urbaine ou agissent-ils à leur façon comme un facteur de développement citadin ? / No English summary available.

This dissertation examines two major parallel but intersecting trajectories: that of kangaku (Chinese studies), specifically the Kidendô (history and literature) curriculum that flourished at the State Academy in the Heian period (794-1185), and kagaku (waka studies), which emerged in the twelfth century. I trace the concept of "way" (michi) as it evolved from the Chinese studies curriculum to an aesthetic "way of life," characterized by a spontaneous and rigorous pursuit of literature and art. The emergence of the study of waka was significant not only because it functioned as a catalyst for the preservation and renewal of the ancient practice of waka, but also because numerous commentaries on the subject formed a canon that defined Japanese cultural identity in subsequent centuries. As in the European Middle Ages, the long twelfth century (1086-1221) in Japan saw the revival of ancient customs and texts. In the West, the Greco-Roman Classics, particularly Aristotelian philosophy, were rediscovered, partly through Arabic translations. In Japan's case, the "twelfth century renaissance" of court culture was not ushered in through contact with new intellectual trends from overseas. Rather, after a century of regency rule by the non-imperial Fujiwara clan, the imperial rulers of the twelfth century were eager to legitimatize their regimes by applying the standards of newly reinterpreted precedents from the past. Called the "era of retired emperors" (insei-ki), Japanese society in the twelfth century was retrospective in character, and witnessed an effusion of cultural production, including the compilation of numerous literary anthologies, sequels to existing religious and historical texts, and treatises and commentaries on poems from the past. For courtiers, participation in imperial cultural enterprises was their sole means of assuring their families' survival, as warriors established their own government by the early 1190s. Part One examines kanshi and waka traditions before the twelfth century through textual analyses of "prefaces" (jo), the majority of which appear in the literary anthology Honchô monzui (Literary Masterpieces of Japan, ca. 1058-65). This is followed by an examination of the role of the composition of Sino-Japanese poems in the lives of scholar-officials. I show how scholar-officials professionalized this practice as part of their household studies in the ninth through eleventh centuries. As part of my investigation of the literary genre of poetry prefaces, I also analyze the Chinese and Japanese prefaces to the Kokin wakashû (Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient Times to the Present, 905), and the poet Nôin's preface to his private collection of waka. Part Two turns to the life and works of Ôe no Masafusa (1041-1111), the foremost scholar of his time. I show how Masafusa responded to the changing realities of Kidendô scholars, while idealizing his learned ancestors, their fellow academicians, and their imperial patrons' "passions" (suki) for the composition of Sino-Japanese poems. By closely reading some of the writings attributed to Masafusa, such as the Zoku hochô ôjoden (Biographies of Those Reborn in Paradise in Japan II, ca. 1099-1104) and the Gôdanshô (Notes on Dialogues with Ôe no Masafusa, ca. 1107-11), I argue that Masafusa's nostalgic recollections of literati culture from the tenth and eleventh centuries ushered in the setsuwa (anecdotal tales) mode of narrative that epitomizes literary production in the twelfth century. Part Three investigates the evolution of waka studies in the twelfth century. I first turn to Minamoto no Toshiyori's (1055?-1129?) waka treatise, Toshiyori zuinô (Toshiyori's Principles of Waka, ca. 1111-15) and discuss the peculiarly anecdotal ways in which Toshiyori glosses ancient poetic diction for a female reader. I then examine how the Rokujô school of waka incorporated some of the formal trappings of kangaku scholarship in its revival of waka, while the Mikohidari school of waka further consolidated hereditary studies of poetry by emphasizing the difficulty of mastering waka composition. In sum, by analyzing Chinese and Japanese writings from Japan's long twelfth century, I propose a new intellectual history of Japan in a crucial period of transition from the ancient to the medieval age.

The present study examines the merchant networks which exported slaves from the Black Sea to Genoa, Venice, and Cairo from the late thirteenth to the late fifteenth century on the basis of both Arabic and Latin sources. It begins with an explanation of features distinctive to slavery in the medieval Mediterranean, the most important of which was its ideological basis in religious rather than racial difference, as well as a comparison between the Christian and Islamic laws governing slavery. In subsequent chapters it covers the variety of roles played by slaves in Mediterranean society, how the use of individual slaves was shaped by their gender and origin, and the processes which led to the enslavement of people within the Black Sea region. The heart of the project is the fourth chapter, an analysis of the commercial networks which conveyed slaves from the ports of the Black Sea to those of the Mediterranean. This chapter profiles individual merchants who dealt in slaves, traces the routes and identifies the logistical challenges of the slave trade, and analyzes the relative importance of various groups of merchants in supplying the Mediterranean demand for slaves. The next chapter explains the process of finding, inspecting, and buying a slave in the marketplace and how it differed from the purchase of other commodities. The final chapter addresses the place of the Black Sea slave trade in the political and religious context of the late medieval crusade movement. Proponents of the crusades argued that Christian merchants, especially the Genoese, were strengthening the sultan of Egypt to the detriment of the crusaders by supplying him with slaves for military service. The validity of these accusations is examined in light of the sources informing the rest of the study.