Beowulf
in Medieval Studies
Published online June 2012.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 7333 words.
By common estimation the corpus of Old English poetry is some 30,000 lines or, roughly, the literary output of John Milton. At 3,182 lines, Beowulf is approximately 10 percent of the...
Byzantine Art
in Medieval Studies
Published online June 2012.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 6663 words.
Byzantine art, simply stated, is the art produced in the Byzantine Empire during the period 330–1453 ce. Of course it is not quite as simple as that. Byzantium was the Eastern Roman...
Canon Law
in Medieval Studies
Published online January 2012.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 13080 words.
Canon law began as sets of norms for the regulation of Christian conduct in the world and the relations of Christians with each other. These were based on principles derived from...
Carolingian Architecture
in Medieval Studies
Published online December 2012.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 9407 words.
Carolingian-period architecture is a key expression of the cultural cohesion of the Franks and their allies under Carolingian rule. In the period from the mid-7th century to the end of...
Carolingian Era
in Medieval Studies
Published online December 2010.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 9921 words.
The almost mythical character of Charlemagne (b. 748–d. 814)—Carlo Magno, Charles the Great, Karl der Grosse—has ensured that his age and dynasty would always receive attention....
Carolingian Manuscript Illumination
in Medieval Studies
Published online July 2012.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 18196 words.
Away from home during his fourth journey to Rome and in celebration of Christmas Day at the end of the year 800, Charlemagne made his way to Old St. Peter’s basilica at the Vatican Hill....
Childhood
in Medieval Studies
Published online March 2012.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 6668 words.
Childhood was for long a neglected aspect of social history, although there have been notable exceptions in England, such as the works of Mary Anne Everett Green (cited under...
Chrétien de Troyes
in Medieval Studies
Published online June 2012.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 9520 words.
Chrétien de Troyes, fl. c. 1160–c. 1181, was the author of five Arthurian romances in verse (Erec et Enide, Cligés, Yvain (Le chevalier au lion), Lancelot (Le chevalier de la charrette),...
Christian Mysticism
in Medieval Studies
Published online April 2013.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 13366 words.
This introductory survey offers an initial overview of some of the main branches of Christian mysticism in the medieval period, broadly conceived as 500–1450. Mysticism is itself a...
Christianity and the Church in Post-Conquest England
in Medieval Studies
Published online December 2010.
Article. Subjects: early history (500 CE to 1500); literary studies (early and medieval); medieval and Renaissance philosophy; Byzantine and medieval art (500 CE to 1400); Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeology. 14051 words.
The history of Christianity and of the church (and its flock) has been a rich field for scholarly endeavor almost from the time the faith became established in the 7th and 8th centuries....