The first monograph project, based in part on the dissertation. It focuses on Robert and William Ufford, their social and military networks, and the way these networks changed over the course of about a century. In ad... more abstractThe first monograph project, based in part on the dissertation. It focuses on Robert and William Ufford, their social and military networks, and the way these networks changed over the course of about a century. In addition to filling a gap in the historiography of 14th-century England (there being no full-length study of the Uffords), the volume uses the Uffords as a way to revise accepted military, political, and social narratives of Edward III's reign. Look for it late 2017.

Military History, Medieval England, The Hundred Years War, Medieval Military History, Suffolk, and 4 more

The volume is a schema of articles, structured around three salient concerns of medieval society: knightly prowess and violence, lay and religious piety, and public order and government. Recent scholarship has increas... more abstractThe volume is a schema of articles, structured around three salient concerns of medieval society: knightly prowess and violence, lay and religious piety, and public order and government. Recent scholarship has increasingly emphasized the importance of studying intersections and inter-connections while reconstructing how medieval societies conceived of “right order.” This book reflects the importance of this approach in its contents and thematic presentation. The medieval view of "right order" was overwhelmingly concerned with the issues given in the title: of prowess (violence, feud, chivalry, masculinity, memory, honor, and fame), of piety (belief and practice, saints, sin, and redemption, ceremony and ritual), and of public order (law, governance, justice, kingship, literary discourses on identity and power, language and meaning). Each of these themes has been explored and expanded by the work of Richard W. Kaeuper, most directly in three of his monographs- War, Justice, and Public Order (Oxford, 1988), Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe (Oxford, 1999), and Holy Warriors (Penn, 2009). Throughout his career, Richard Kaeuper has approached historical questions with an eye towards illuminating the inherent complexities in human ideas and ideals. He has worked to untangle the various threads holding together cultural constructs such as chivalry, licit violence, and lay piety. He has done this by examining a wide range of historical evidence, including art and literature, as a way of more completely understanding how societies created themselves. The present volume builds off of the work that Kaeuper has done in a way that contains the most recent scholarship on these interconnected themes.

Medieval Literature, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, and Chivalry (Medieval Studies)

This is a presentation I did at Rochester back in November, 2007. It was kind of a one-off, and therefore, as you can see, still very rough in places since I never went back to it, but it essentially argued for the hi... more abstractThis is a presentation I did at Rochester back in November, 2007. It was kind of a one-off, and therefore, as you can see, still very rough in places since I never went back to it, but it essentially argued for the historicity of Margery's account of her pilgrimage to Danzig and Aachen. With Margery in the news due to that amazing archival discovery confirming at least some historicity to the "Book", I figured I'd get some small satisfaction from having argued the point eight years ago.

Pilgrimage, Margery Kempe, Holy Roman Empire, and The Book of Margery Kempe

Introduction of my dissertation, written under the direction of my mentor Richard W. Kaeuper at the University of Rochester, recently profiled by the AHA, http://blog.historians.org/2015/02/aha-member-spotlight-richar... more abstractIntroduction of my dissertation, written under the direction of my mentor Richard W. Kaeuper at the University of Rochester, recently profiled by the AHA, http://blog.historians.org/2015/02/aha-member-spotlight-richard-w-kaeuper/. I also owe a lot to my friends and mentors Clifford J. Rogers and Andrew Ayton, although I strike out in a slightly different direction.

Military History, Chivalry (Chivalry), Medieval England, Military Revolution, The Hundred Years War, and 7 more

This is a diplomatic game meant for seminar-sized classes to strengthen their grasp of early medieval geo-politics. Please feel free to correct, adapt, or otherwise modify as you wish—it is hardly perfect, though my s... more abstractThis is a diplomatic game meant for seminar-sized classes to strengthen their grasp of early medieval geo-politics. Please feel free to correct, adapt, or otherwise modify as you wish—it is hardly perfect, though my students were unanimous that it was both fun and educational. I adapted it myself from the Napoleonic diplomacy game created by my colleagues at West Point, and used by some instructors to simulate coalition warfare in 1813. In the medieval case, of course, there are no clear coalitions, complicating things considerably. I happened on 821 CE somewhat by accident, but I think it turned out to be a fortuitous occurrence, since as you can see in the “country” overview below a number of interesting political developments were taking place in this year. Hence the title of the scenario is deliberately evocative of Traina’s brilliant book 428 AD. I framed the title in both Roman Christian and Islamic calendars to stress the multiple cultures of the (European) Middle Ages, especially around the Mediterranean.

Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Medieval Europe, and 2 more

Twelve papers and a round table on culture and conflict in the high–late Middle Ages

Archaeology, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Historiography, War Studies, and 13 more

Time: 9 AM to 8 PM

Location: University of Leeds

Event Date: Jul 6, 2016

Organization: 23rd International Medieval Congress, sessions 1036, 1136, 1236, 1336, and 1436

Conference End Date: Jul 7, 2016

Conference Start Date: Jul 4, 2016