Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History is an annual publication of historiographical essays on the pre-modern world. As a venue for sustained investigations, it plays a significant role in the dissemination of interpretative scholarship that falls in the niche between the journal article and the monograph.This is the final volume in series 3 and primarily comprises essays in memory of Paul E. Szarmach, the eminent Old English scholar and former executive director of the Medieval Academy of America and director of the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo.

Renaissance --- Early medieval culture. --- Medieval Studies. --- Paul Szarmach, medievalist.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The game of chess was wildly popular in the Middle Ages, so much so that it became an important thought paradigm for thinkers and writers who utilized its vocabulary and imagery for commentaries on war, politics, love, and the social order. In this collection of essays, scholars investigate chess texts from numerous traditions - English, French, German, Latin, Persian, Spanish, Swedish, and Catalan - and argue that knowledge of chess is essential to understanding medieval culture. Such knowledge, however, cannot rely on the modern game, for today's rules were not developed until the late fifteenth century. Only through familiarity with earlier incarnations of the game can one fully appreciate the full import of chess to medieval society. The careful scholarship contained in this volume provides not only insight into the significance of chess in medieval European culture but also opens up avenues of inquiry for future work in this rich field.

Chess --- Civilization, Medieval. --- Civilization, Medieval --- Medieval civilization --- Middle Ages --- Civilization --- Chivalry --- Renaissance --- Board games --- Mathematical recreations --- History --- Chess. --- Early Modern Age. --- Medieval Culture. --- Medieval Literature.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

"This volume investigates the state of same-sex relations in later medieval England, drawing on a remarkably rich array of primary sources from the period that include legal documents, artworks, theological treatises, and poetry. Tom Linkinen uses those sources to build a framework of medieval condemnations of same-sex intimacy and desire and then shows how same-sex sexuality reflected"and was inflected by" gender hierarchies, approaches to crime, and the conspicuous silence on the matter in the legal systems of the period." by editor

History of civilization --- anno 1200-1499 --- Great Britain --- Homosexuality --- History. --- History --- Homosexualité --- Same-sex attraction --- Sexual orientation --- Bisexuality --- History of sexuality, medieval culture, cultural history, same-sex studies. --- Homosexualité

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Older research on the premodern world limited its focus on the Church, the court, and, more recently, on urban space. The present volume invites readers to consider the meaning of rural space, both in light of ecocritical readings and social-historical approaches. While previous scholars examined the figure of the peasant in the premodern world, the current volume combines a large number of specialized studies that investigate how the natural environment and the appearance of members of the rural population interacted with the world of the court and of the city. The experience in rural space was important already for writers and artists in the premodern era, as the large variety of scholarly approaches indicates. The present volume signals how much the surprisingly close interaction between members of the aristocratic and of the peasant class determined many literary and art-historical works. In a surprisingly large number of cases we can even discover elements of utopia hidden in rural space. We also observe how much the rural world was a significant element already in early-medieval mentality. Moreover, as many authors point out, the impact of natural forces on premodern society was tremendous, if not catastrophic.

Literature, Medieval --- Peasants in literature. --- Rural conditions in literature. --- European literature --- Ecocriticism. --- Ecological literary criticism --- Environmental literary criticism --- Criticism --- Peasantry in literature --- History and criticism. --- Early Modern Age. --- Medieval Culture. --- Middle Ages. --- Rural Space.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Written around 1430, Duarte of Portugal's remarkable treatise on chivalric horsemanship, the Livro do Cavalgar (Book on Riding), is not only the sole substantial contemporary source on the definitive physical skill of the medieval knight, it is a remarkably intelligent and innovative work that still has much to offer to modern practitioners of physical arts. The book stands out from the body of technical writings that survive from the Middle Ages for its intelligence, insight, and intellectual versatility, ranging from psychological reflections on horsemanship and its implications forhuman ethics, to the details of how to couch a lance under your arm without getting it caught on your armor. Under the general rubric of horsemanship Duarte covers a range of topics that include jousting, tourneying, and hunting, as well as the physical apparatus of equestrianism and various cultural styles of riding.
However, despite its importance for scholarship, its language and technicalcontent have so far resisted proper translation, a need which this book fills. The introduction provides not only the background to make Duarte's text comprehensible, but for the first time offers modern audiences a systematic point of access to the subject of medieval equestrianism in general.

Jeffrey L. Forgeng is curator of Arms and Armor and Medieval Art at the Worcester Art Museum, and teaches as Adjunct Professor of History at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Horsemanship --- Chivalry --- Conduct of life --- Armor. --- Arms. --- Chivalry. --- Duarte of Portugal. --- Equestrianism. --- European History. --- Fencing. --- Horse. --- Horsemanship. --- Martial Arts. --- Medieval Culture. --- Medieval History. --- Medieval Society. --- Medieval Sports. --- Middle Ages. --- Military History. --- Swordplay. --- Warfare. --- Weaponry.