Postdoctoral fellowships: ‘The reception of ancient Greece in pre-modern French literature and illustrations of manuscripts and printed books (1320-1550)’ Project, deadline 12 May 2024

The ERC Advanced grant project AGRELITA “The reception of ancient Greece in pre-modern French literature and illustrations of manuscripts and printed books (1320-1550): how invented memories shaped the identity of European communities”, newly awarded (2021), led by Prof. Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas, is now accepting applications for 3 postdoctoral positions (100 %), starting on 10th October 2024. Find out more information about the project here.

Until now the reception history of ancient Greece in Pre-modern Western Europe has focussed almost exclusively on the transmission of Ancient Greek texts. Yet, well before the revival of Greek teaching, numerous vernacular works, often illustrated, contained elaborate representations of ancient Greece. AGRELITA studies a large corpus of French-language literary works produced from the 1320s to the 1550s in France and Europe, as well as the images offered by their manuscripts and printed books. 

AGRELITA is based at the University of Caen Normandy and is scheduled to conclude on 30th September 2027.

Three postdoctoral positions

Contract duration: 12 months, renewable.

Postdoctoral Role:

The three postdoctoral researchers will analyse the texts and images of AGRELITA’s corpus. They will work with the Principal Investigator, the project manager, associate researchers and guest researchers. 

Main Tasks: 

  • The analysis of an already identified corpus of texts from the 14th, 16th and 16th centuries and the identification of new texts that contain representations of ancient Greece (texts available in the form of modern editions or from manuscripts and prints from the 14th – 16th centuries, whether digitised or not) 
  • The collection of data and the drafting of notes on the texts, authors, artists, manuscripts, prints, and Greek data present 
  • The scientific analysis of textual and visual representations of ancient Greece, of the links between texts and images 
  • The production of original scientific articles, which will be published in the collective volumes of AGRELITA and in specialised journals, in French 
  • Representing the AGRELITA project at external conferences and study days in France and abroad, and publishing the papers 
  • Contributing to an anthology of texts and images (in collaboration with the whole team) 
  • Participating in all AGRELITA activities: weekly team meetings in Caen, monthly seminars, workshops, conferences
  • Contributing to the scientific organisation of these seminars, study days, colloquia; identifying colleagues to be invited, making contacts
  • Contributing to the reception of invited researchers 
  • Contributing to the editing of the planned collective volumes (proofreading, correction, formatting of manuscripts sent to publishers) 
  • Contributing to the website and the blog 
  • Contributing to the reflection on the implementation and development of AGRELITA 

Required Skills 

  • PhD in French literature of the Middle Ages and/or the Renaissance, in the history of art of the Middle Ages and/or the Renaissance (manuscripts and illuminations, early prints, paintings and engravings), in ancient literature or in cultural history of the 14th-16th centuries. 
  • The candidate must have completed his/her thesis less than three years before the start date of the contract. 
  • Excellent analytical skills of texts and images, as well as the relationship between texts and images 
  • Excellent command of modern French, both written and spoken 
  • Proficiency in scientific writing 
  • Good knowledge of Middle French and Renaissance French 
  • Palaeographic skills for reading and transcribing manuscript and printed texts (14th-16th C) 
  • Knowledge of Latin and some knowledge of Ancient Greek 
  • Ability to master a large corpus and to conduct comparative studies  Ability and taste for interdisciplinary studies 
  • Experience and/or willingness to work in a team, 
  • Rigor, reliability, confidentiality 
  • Sense of initiative 
  • Proficiency in scientific writing in French and also in English (with possible support for English revision). 
  • Ability to maintain a website and blog 

Professional Environment 

Each post-doc will report directly to the Principal Investigator of the AGRELITA project, Prof. Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas. They will also work in a team with the other postdocs and the project manager. 

Working Conditions And Modalities 

  • Location: The University of Caen Normandy, research center Craham: Centre Michel de Boüard, UMR 6273, https://www.craham.cnrs.fr/ The post-docs will have an office in the Craham. 
  • Employer: University of Caen Normandy 
  • Type of contract: fixed-term contract 
  • Duration of the contract: 12 mois 
  • Working time: 100% 
  • Estimated starting date of the contract : 01/10/2024 
  • Remuneration: Approximately €2800 gross/month 
  • Contact: catherine.gaullier-bougassas@unicaen.fr 

Application Process 

Application file to be sent in digital format (pdf) by 12 May 2024 at the latest to the following address catherine.gaullier-bougassas@unicaen.fr 

The file should include: 

  • A Curriculum Vitae (Education, Experience, Publications) 
  • A letter of motivation, which explains and presents the interest for the reception of Antiquity 
  • A pdf of the thesis and a pdf of the thesis report (if applicable for the thesis report) 
  • A proposal for an original article (approximately one page) on an aspect of the reception of Ancient Greece (before Alexander the Great) in pre-modern French literature (texts or/and images). 

Job: The American University of Paris seeks Temporary Art History Instructors

The American University of Paris is excited to announce openings for temporary Art History instructors for the academic year 2024-2025. 

Opportunities for Fall 2024 and Spring 2025

Fall 2024:

They are looking for an instructor to teach three sections of “Intro to Global Art Through Paris Museums” (AH1091 x3). This role is perfect for someone who can engage students with a survey of world art spanning various time periods. The ideal candidate will be dynamic and comfortable conducting classes directly in Paris’s famed museums.

Spring 2025:

The spring semester offers opportunities to teach two non-Western topics classes at the mid and upper levels (AH2091 and AH3091). These open-topic classes provide a platform for an instructor to explore areas of personal expertise and interest within non-Western art history.

Contract Details:

A one-year contract is available for those interested in teaching all five courses. Alternatively, they are open to hiring individuals for specific classes based on their expertise and availability.

Application Process:

If you live in Paris, have connections in the area, and are interested in exploring a teaching opportunity with The American University of Paris, please send your CV directly to Dr Anna Russakoff at annadrussakoff [@] gmail.com. Your application will be forwarded to the Program Coordinator for further consideration.

Support the Preservation of The Rose Window: A Stained Glass Legacy

The Rose Window, a revered online resource created by Painton Cowen, has been a beacon for students, scholars, and enthusiasts of medieval stained glass. With over 44,000 photographs documenting pre-1800 stained glass at more than 600 locations, this website has been an indispensable tool for educational and research purposes. As it stands, this digital archive receives about 5,000 visits daily from people worldwide.

As Painton approaches retirement, the future of The Rose Window hangs in the balance. Despite extensive efforts and consultations over the past two years, an institution that can take over and sustain the website has yet to be found. 

However, a glimmer of hope shines through the collaboration with the International Corpus Vitrearum (ICVMA), which, under the guidance of digital chair Sarah Pittroff, has agreed to house and maintain Painton’s invaluable materials. 

Urgent Financial Assistance Needed

The Rose Window urgently needs help to settle outstanding loans amounting to €35,000 by August 1st, 2024. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to secure the necessary funds to preserve this cultural treasure.

How You Can Help

We’re calling on the global community, art lovers, historians, educators, and anyone who cherishes cultural heritage to come together and contribute to saving The Rose Window. Your donation can ensure that this free resource continues to enlighten and inspire future generations. Contributions of any size make a difference and will be recognised in a special ‘Amici Vitrearum’ (Friends of Glass) list.

Should The Rose Window exceed its fundraising goal, the additional funds will be directed towards humanitarian efforts, aiding in the reconstruction of Ukraine and Gaza. 

To contribute, please visit the GoFundMe page.

Your support can make a real difference in preserving this unique repository of stained glass art. Let’s ensure that The Rose Window continues to shine brightly as a source of learning and inspiration.

For more information about The Rose Window and to explore its vast collection, please visit the website and find out more about the appeal here.

New Publication ‘Les Saintes-Chapelles du XIIIe au XVIIIe siècle: Arts – Politique – Religion’, edited by Etienne Anheim and David Fiala

De la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris, fondée par saint Louis au milieu du XIIIe siècle et supprimée en 1787, aux Saintes-Chapelles constituant, de Bourges à Dijon ou Chambéry, un réseau de sacralité des princes de la maison de France, ce livre retrace l’histoire politique, religieuse et artistique d’une institution imaginaire essentielle pour le royaume de France.

Si la fondation de la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris par Louis IX pour accueillir la couronne d’épines au milieu du XIIIe siècle est bien connue et si l’on sait qu’à l’imitation du saint roi, plusieurs princes de France fondèrent des chapelles dites « saintes » entre la fin du Moyen Âge et le début de la Renaissance, l’histoire longue et complexe de ces chapelles est encore mal connue et mal comprise. Il ne s’agit pas de nier la possibilité de construire un idéal-type de « la » Sainte-Chapelle, mais plutôt de s’interroger sur l’écart entre ce que les documents du passé appellent « Sainte-Chapelle », sans préjuger d’un sens stable et univoque à travers le temps, et ce que les périodes postérieures et la recherche actuelle peuvent désigner sous ce nom. Une Sainte-Chapelle, des Saintes-Chapelles ? Ces contributions cherchent à répondre à cette question en s’interrogeant sur la définition de la notion, sa circulation, ses transformations dans le temps et dans l’espace. En comparant les différentes « Saintes-Chapelles », ce volume veut défendre l’idée que les Saintes-Chapelles sont des objets historiques particulièrement révélateurs parce qu’elles ont été des rouages discrets mais fondamentaux : leur statut hybride, entre cour et Église, de même que leur histoire longue, de la couronne d’épines à la Révolution, en font un observatoire idéal pour mieux comprendre et expliquer les évolutions à l’œuvre dans l’exercice du pouvoir et la célébration de Dieu par la monarchie capétienne entre le Moyen Âge et les Lumières.

From the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, founded by Saint Louis in the mid-13th century and abolished in 1787, to the Sainte-Chapelles ranging from Bourges to Dijon or Chambéry, forming a network of sacredness for the princes of the House of France, this book traces the political, religious, and artistic history of a crucial imaginary institution for the Kingdom of France.

While the foundation of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris by Louis IX to house the Crown of Thorns in the mid-13th century is well-known, and it is recognised that following the holy king’s example, several French princes established chapels known as “sainte” between the end of the Middle Ages and the start of the Renaissance, the long and complex history of these chapels remains poorly understood. The aim is not to deny the possibility of constructing an ideal type of “the” Sainte-Chapelle, but rather to question the discrepancy between what historical documents call “Sainte-Chapelle,” without assuming a stable and univocal meaning over time, and what later periods and current research might denote by this name. A Sainte-Chapelle, or Sainte-Chapelles? These contributions seek to address this question by examining the definition of the concept, its circulation, and its transformations over time and space. By comparing the various “Sainte-Chapelles,” this volume argues that the Sainte-Chapelles are particularly revealing historical objects because they were discreet but fundamental cogs: their hybrid status, between court and Church, as well as their lengthy history, from the Crown of Thorns to the Revolution, make them an ideal observatory for better understanding and explaining the changes in the exercise of power and the celebration of God by the Capetian monarchy from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment.

Table of Contents

Étienne Anheim et David Fiala,“Introduction” : “A la recherche des Saintes-Chapelles”.

Elizabeth A.R. Brown, “La Sainte-Chapelle de Paris, ses appelations et son renom aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles”.

Anne Massoni, “Les Saintes-Chapelles, des chapitres collégiaux comme les autres ?”.

Murielle Gaude-Ferragu, “Les cérémonies extraordinaires à la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris (XIVe-XVe s.)”.

Christophe Boucheron, “Jean Mortis et le ‘Cartulaire de la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris’ de 1457”.

Meredith Cohen, “What Saint Louis Saw. The Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais de la Cité in the Thirteenth-Century”.

Étienne Hamon, “La montée de la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris : fonctions, symboles et formes”.

Étienne Anheim, “La maîtrise d’enfants de la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris (XIIIe-XVIIIe s.). Institution et discipline entre la cour et l’Eglise”.

Xavier Bisaro, “Le vitrail et l’image : la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris dans les sources cérémonielles du XVIIe siècle”.

Dany Sandron, “Notre-Dame et la Sainte-Chapelle au XIIIe siècle”.

Paul Binski, “Perspectives anglaises sur la Sainte-Chapelle”.

Jean-Bernard de Vaivre et Laurent Vissière, “Dévotions aristocratiques à la Sainte-Chapelle de Dijon”.

Olivier Mattéoni, “Géographie sacrale et Saintes-Chapelles dans les territoires des Bourbons à la fin du Moyen Âge”.

Jean-Vincent Jourd’heuil, “La fondation de la Sainte-Chapelle de Bourges (1392-1405) : une fondation princière durant le Grand Schisme”.

Yves Pauwels, “Le porche de la Sainte-Chapelle de Champigny-sur-Veude : un manifeste de modernité architecturale”.

Julien Noblet, “La Sainte-Chapelle de Chambéry et le projet d’Amédée VIII : nouvelles observations archéologiques”.

Laura Gaffuri et Paolo Cozzo, “De Chambéry à Turin. La Sainte-Chapelle et la Chapelle Royale de la Cour de Savoie (XVe-XVIIIe s.).

Bernard Dompnier, “Les calendriers festifs des Saintes-Chapelles aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles”.

Étienne Anheim et David Fiala, “Conclusion” : “Les Saintes-Chapelles, des institutions imaginaires”.

Editors

Étienne Anheim est historien. Il est directeur des Éditions et directeur d’études à l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris), où il enseigne la sociologie historique de la culture en Europe du XIIe au XVIe siècle.

David Fiala est maître de conférences en musicologie au Centre d’études supérieures de la Renaissance (Université de Tours/CNRS). Ses travaux portent sur la musique, les musiciens et les institutions musicales de la fin du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance, ainsi que les humanités numériques.

Find out more about this book over on the Brepols website. 

Lecture Series: ‘Material Migrations’, online, 29 April – 9 Sep 2024

The “Material Migrations” lecture series centers issues of object mobility, transcultural dynamics, and notions of connectivity and resistance with case studies from the Middle Ages until today. Connected to the international collaborative research project “Material Migrations: Mamluk Metalwork across Afro-Eurasia”, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and directed by Gertrude Aba Mansah Eyifa-Dzidzienyo and Vera-Simone Schulz, the online lecture series sheds new light on the lives and afterlives of objects, but also counterbalances an object-centered with a people-centered approach. Interdisciplinary in nature, the series brings together researchers and cultural practitioners from different institutions across the globe, fostering nuanced analyses that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries. Through engagement with art history, history, archaeology, anthropology, literary studies, and contemporary art, the lectures offer innovative perspectives on questions of canonization and the overcoming of canons, on visual and material culture, critical museology, critical heritage studies, preservation, conservation, and questions of care. The first round of talks and conversations this year will focus on Afro-Eurasian and global dynamics, on Durbi Takusheyi as a hub for people and objects crisscrossing the African continent, on objects and materials in relation to sites and the environment, on the present and future of heritage sites and museums, on contemporary approaches to Black presence in the Uffizi galleries, and on present pasts in the medium of film. Illuminating the interconnectedness of human experiences and material artifacts, “Material Migrations” highlights their enduring significance in contemporary contexts.

The ongoing lecture series is free, online and open to the public. Everyone is welcome to register and attend. A follow-up program will be published in the coming months.

For more information on the “Material Migrations” project, please visit our website. 

Lecture Series Program

Monday, April 29, 5pm CET

Albrecht Fuess (Philipps-Universität Marburg): A Clash between Muslim Empires: The Struggle between Ottomans, Mamluks and Safavids in the Years 1470-1520

Registration link |  More information 

Monday, May 20, 5pm CET

Akanni Olusegun Opadeji (MOWAA): New Light on Durbi Takusheyi and the Katsina Excavations

Registration link

Monday, May 27, 5pm CET

Mark Seyram Amenyo-Xa (University of Ghana): The Forts and Castles of Ghana: 4+ Decades of World Heritage Status
Registration link

Monday, June 24, 5pm CET

Musa Oluwaseyi Hambolu (University of Jos, former Director of Research, NCMM Nigeria): The Present and Future of Museums in Nigeria
Registration link

Monday, July 1, 5pm CET

Jenny Bulstrode (University College London): The Cogs and the Wheels in the Webs of Resistance
Registration link

Monday, July 15, 5pm CET

Justin Randolph Thompson (The Recovery Plan): The Limitations of Presence: Contested Framings of Access
Registration link

Monday, September 9, 5pm CET

Elizabeth Lambourn (De Montfort University): Metals and Models: The Exchange of Technologies between Aden and the Malabar Coast as Recorded in Geniza Documents
Registration link

This first round of the online series will also include a virtual screening of:

“Il Moro”, the Oscar longlisted film on the life of the Duke of Florence Alessandro de’ Medici of African descent followed by a discussion with the film director Daphne Di Cinto.

Information on how to register for this event will be made available on the Gerda Henkel website.

Concept and organization: Gertrude Aba Mansah Eyifa-Dzidzienyo and Vera-Simone Schulz

Lecture Series: Medieval Visual Culture Seminar, University of Oxford, Trinity Term 2024

St Catherine’s College, Oxford, Arumugam Building  |   Thursdays 5pm (GMT)  |   All welcome

Convenors: Elena Lichmanova (elena.lichmanova@merton.ox.ac.uk), Gervase Rosser, Martin Kauffmann, Hannah Skoda    

Week 4, 16 May 2024 

Livia Lupi (University of Warwick), Artistic Practice and the Emergence of the Architect  in Italy, c. 1300 – c. 1480  

Week 6, 30 May 2024     

Gervase Rosser (University of Oxford), Irrational, Feminine, Subversive: The Cult of Miraculous Images in Medieval England 

Week 7, 6 June 2024       Lara Frentrop (University of Heidelberg), Objects of Desire: The Byzantine Art of Dining as Social and Romantic Agents

British Archaeological Association Study Day: Lesnes Abbey and V&A Museum (Monday 10 June 2024), deadline 30 April 2024

Lesnes Abbey was founded by Henry II’s chief justiciar, Richard de Lucy, in 1178. De Lucy retired into it, died there in 1179 and was buried in the chapter house. The de Lucy family continued to patronise the abbey, and it served as their burial house. The abbey was dedicated to St Thomas Becket. Thus the foundation reflects unease about – and appropriation of – the martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Angevin court circles. The magnificent surviving Missal from the abbey, now in the V&A, produced around 1200, reflects both de Lucy family patronage and their interest in Thomas Becket.
The Missal is illuminated, contains liturgies for Becket, musical notation, and obits for members of the de Lucy family. Richard de Lucy appears to have chosen an unusual order for his abbey: Arrouaisian canons, from north-eastern France. The abbey itself is mainly reduced to footings, but is nonetheless an important and revealing site, in an evocative position above what must have been marshlands in the Thames estuary.

The study day will take place in two parts. In the morning, we will visit the site of the abbey to discuss the archaeological remains. Discussion of the site will be led by Richard Halsey and Dr David Robinson, and by Dr Hugh Doherty on the de Lucy patronage. In the afternoon, the study day will move to the V&A, where we will be able to see the Lesnes Missal, which will be taken out of its display case for us to see it properly. Discussion of the Missal will be led by Dr Rowan Watson and Dr Catherine Yvard. The V&A also holds a fine tomb of a later member of the de Lucy, c. 1300. This will be presented to the Study Day by Dr Michaela Zoschg.

Lesnes provides an unusual opportunity to consider the architecture, liturgy, and spatial configuration of a house of Augustinian canons, of an unusual and ascetic branch, founded as a result of well- documented high level court patronage, with a strongly political tinge.

Study Day Programme

  • 10.30: Meet at Lesnes Abbey Visitor Centre/ Café for on-site discussion approx. 2 hours
  • 12.30- 1.30: Lunch Break (Lunch will not be provided so we suggest you arrive with your own packed lunch. The Abbey has a small kiosk cafe selling limited but nice range of sandwiches, cakes and coffee/tea.)
  • 1.30: We suggest you make your way to the Victoria & Albert Museum by taking the Elizabeth Line from Abbey Wood Station (see travel options below)
  • 3.00: Reconvene at V&A Museum (We will gather in the main entrance hall at Cromwell Road and divide into two groups. Group A to see the Lesnes Missal and Group B to see the tomb.
  • 3:00 – 3:45: for session 1, then allow 15 minutes for the swap and then 4:00 – 4:45 for session 2)
  • 4.45: End

Travel and practicalities:
Lesnes Abbey is about 10 minutes’ walk from Abbey Wood Station. Abbey Wood Station (the station itself is shortlisted for this year’s Stirling Prize) is the east end of the Elizabeth line. It is also served by trains from London Bridge, including some Thameslink trains via St Pancras. Lesnes Abbey and its park are well signposted from the station.

Travel from Lesnes Abbey to the V&A: We are allowing plenty of time for this. There are several options, including: Elizabeth line to Paddington, then tube to South Kensington; or train to London Bridge, then via Jubilee and circle/district line to South Kensington; or train to Blackfriars, then circle/district line to South Kensington.

The cost of the day will be £25 for members. The event is free for students, for whom travel grants (to a maximum of £50) are also available.

Places are limited to 20, of which up to 10 are reserved for students.

To apply, please e-mail studydays@thebaa.org – by 30th April 2024. Please state in the email whether you are a member of the BAA or a student. All names will be entered into a ballot for the study day and the successful applicants will be notified by 2nd May 2024.

Oxford Medieval Manuscripts Group, Trinity Term 2024, Fridays 5pm (BST)

Trinity Term 2024 | Fridays 5 pm (the V&A visit is at 11 am) | Merton College, Oxford University; Weston Library, and the Victoria and Albert Museum

Organisers: Irina Boeru, Fergus Bovill, Ana Dias, Charly Driscoll, Elena Lichmanova, Mathilde Mioche, Celeste Pan, Klara Zhao

To subscribe to our mailing list, participate in library visits, propose a presentation of your research for work in progress meetings, or submit any queries, please write to: elena.lichmanova@merton.ox.ac.uk 

Week 1, 26 April 2024 (Weston Library)

Martin Kauffmann (Bodleian Library), A. C. (Tilly) de la Mare and the Formation of a Palaeographer

Limited places, write to the email below by 24th April 2024. 

Week 3, 10 May 2024 (Hawkins Room)

Sara Charles, School of Advanced Study, University of London

Pigments and Illumination in the Middle Ages (practice-based) Hawkins Room   

All materials are provided. £5 fee (the price is subsidised by the OMS grant).

Limited places. To register, write to the email below by 1st May 2024. 

Week 4, 17 May 2024 (11 am to 3.15 pm)

Illuminated Manuscript Cuttings at the V&A, London

Conversation with Catherine Yvard, National Art Library Special  Collections Curator

Limited places. To join the trip, write to the email below by 10th May 2024.

Week 7, 7 June 2024 (Sir Howard Stringer Room)

Work in Progress Meeting

Antonia Della Fratte (University of Padua), Gustav F. Waagen Tours of Britain: Describing Illuminated MSS in Oxford

We are still accepting applications. If you want to present your work in progress and receive our feedback, write to the email below by 31st May 2024. 

New Publication: ‘Crusader Rhetoric and the Infancy Cycles on Medieval Baptismal Fonts in the Baltic Region’ by Harriet M. Sonne De Torrens

This innovative analysis of the Infantia Christi Corpus, all known medieval baptismal fonts attributed primarily to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the Latin West, is the first in-depth study of the elaborate pictorial cycles in relation to the liturgy of the Mass and the political rhetoric used to justify the apostolically approved Baltic Crusades.

This is the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary analysis to demonstrate that the representation of Infancy cycles on twelfth-and-thirteenth-century baptismal fonts was primarily a northern predilection in the Latin West directly influenced by the contemporary military campaigns. The Infantia Christi Corpus, a collection of approximately one-hundred-and-fifty fonts, verifies how the Danish and Gotland workshops modified and augmented biblical history to reflect the prevailing crusader ideology and rhetoric that dominated life during the Valdemarian era in the Baltic region. The artisans constructed the pictorial programs according to the readings of the Mass for the feast days in the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphanytide. The political ambitions of the northern leaders and the Church to create a Land of St. Peter in the Baltic region strategically influenced the integration of Holy Land motifs, warrior saints, militia Christi and martyrdom in the Infancy cycles to justify the escalating northern conquests.

Neither before nor after, in the history of baptismal fonts, have so many been ornamented with the Infancy cycle in elaborate pictorial programs. A brief revival of elaborate Infancy cycles occurs on the fourteenth and fifteenth-century fonts commissioned for sites previously located in the Christian borderlands east of the Elbe River with the rise of the Baltic military orders and the advancement of the Church authority. This extraordinary study integrates theological, liturgical, historical and political developments, broadening our understanding of what constituted northern crusader art in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Dr. Harriet M. Sonne de Torrens (Ph.D., University of Copenhagen, L.M.S. from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto) is an art historian, medievalist, and academic librarian at University of Toronto Mississagua; co-director of the research project Baptisteria Sacra Index (BSI) with more than 25,000 baptismal fonts; she is co-editor of the book, Visual Culture of Baptism in the Middle Ages: Essays on Medieval Fonts, Settings and Beliefs (2013).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Maps

Part I. The Historical And Political Contexts

Chapter 1. The Workshops and Continental Networks
1.1 The Workshops
1.2 Inscriptions
1.3 Dating Medieval Baptismal Fonts

Chapter 2. The Ecclesiastical, Cistercian, and Artistic Relationships between Denmark and Gotland
2.1. Medieval Kingdom of Denmark
2.2. Öland and Gotland
2.3 The Church, Cistercians, and Military Orders
2.4 The Cistercian Period
2.5 Trade and the Church

Chapter 3. The Eucharist, New Law, and Crusader Theology
3.1. De fontibus salvatoris: The Chalice-Shaped Fonts and the Cult of the Child
3.2. The Eucharist and Baptismal Fonts
3.3. The Judicial Century
3.4. Vineam Domini and the Crusades

Part II. The Iconography, Liturgy, and Crusades

Chapter 4. The Advent Season and Feast Days

4.1. The Liturgy and Biblical Readings
4.2. Palmers and Crusades
4.3. Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
4.4. The New Jerusalem
4.5. St George, St Mercurius, St Methodius and St Cyril
4.6 Advent of Ecclesia
4.7 The Visitation and the Four Daughters

Chapter 5. The Christmas Season
5.1. Vigil of Christmas (24 December)
5.2. Christmas Day (25 December)
5.3. Feast Day of St Stephen (26 December) and Legend of Staffan the Stable Boy
5.4. Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December)
5.5. Feast Day of St Thomas Becket of Canterbury (29 December)
5.6. Feast of the Circumcision / Octave of Christmas (1 January)

Chapter 6. The Epiphany Season: Crusader Kings and Peregrini
6.1. The Vigil of the Epiphany (5 January)
6.2. The Epiphany (6 January)
6.3. Moses and the Crusades
6.4. The Cult of the Magi
6.5. Milites Christi and Martyrdom
6.6 Candlemass: The Feast of the Purification (2 February)

Conclusion

Appendix 1. Tables
Appendix 2. Figures

Bibliography
Index of Biblical References
Index of Baptismal Fonts
General Index

Find out more about this new book over on Brepol’s website.

Call for sessions: Sponsored sessions by Mary Jaharis Center at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, deadline 13 May 2024

Conference Date: May 08, 2025–May 10, 2025 
Location: Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008

To encourage the integration of Byzantine studies within the scholarly community and medieval studies in particular, the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored session at the 60th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 8–10, 2024. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to Byzantine studies.

Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website. The deadline for submission is May 13, 2024.

If the proposed session is approved, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse a maximum of 4 session participants (presenters and moderator) up to $800 maximum for scholars travelling from North America and up to $1400 maximum for those travelling from outside North America. Funding is through reimbursement only; advance funding cannot be provided.

For further details and submission instructions, please visit https://maryjahariscenter.org/sponsored-sessions/60th-icms.