May 23, 2023
I recently held my last class for a Medieval Christianity course at Brooklyn College. For our final session, we reflected as a group on medieval Christianity’s uses and misuses since… READ MORE
April 12, 2023
Q. What got you interested in French teaching in medieval England? Before I started working on the history of French teaching, most of my work had dealt with medieval English literature. I… READ MORE
January 2, 2023
It seems strange to say that in 885, when my book begins, there was no such thing as France. I first went there as a teenager and I was struck… READ MORE
September 12, 2022
It would require a particular talent to write a dull history of the crusades and there are many fine studies available covering virtually every aspect of the subject, from politics… READ MORE
September 5, 2022
My book asks what the old poem Beowulf can tell us about the history of the North in the post-Roman period, the fifth and sixth centuries – a place and a time… READ MORE
August 29, 2022
The Jewish community of Mantua started to produce plays in 1520 for carnival celebrations and civic spectacles to honor visiting dignitaries and to celebrate births and marriages of the reigning… READ MORE
Agnès Sorel (ca. 1426-50), the beautiful mistress of King Charles VII of France (1403-61), is a star. She appears regularly in popular histories, novels, documentaries, and, most recently, internet fan… READ MORE
At the time I was finishing the edits and proofs for my book Why Study the Middle Ages?, the trailer for the new film Medieval came out. I honestly at… READ MORE
May 6, 2022
Can you tell us what Ethiopian Jewish ascetic religious communities are? And what inspired you to carry out research on them? When I first had a chance to learn about Betä… READ MORE
April 18, 2022
Nuns and sex: rumour or fact? Did nuns stay in touch with the outside? Despite ecclesiastical authorities insistence on enclosure, were nuns truly isolated? How did nuns in observant convents… READ MORE