Beginning with Saint Barbatianus, a fifth-century wonderworking monk and confessor to the Empress Galla Placidia, this book focuses on the changes in the religious landscape of Ravenna, a former capital of the Late Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages. During this period, written stories about saints and their relics not only offered guidance and solace but were also used by those living among the ruins of a once great city-particularly its archbishops, monks, and the urban aristocracy-to reflect on its past glory. This practice remained important to the citizens of Ravenna as they came to terms with the city's revival and renewed relevance in the tenth century under Ottonian rule. In using the vita of Barbatianus as a central text, Edward M. Schoolman explores how saints and sanctity were created and ultimately came to influence complex political and social networks, from the Late Roman Empire to the High Middle Ages.

Fruits of the most recent research on the worlds of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The contributions in this volume illuminate critical aspects of the Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman and Angevin worlds - and more. Essays consider the complexities of the Norman administration in North Africa, the Canterbury primacy controversy through the lens of the relics of St Ouen, and the meanings of natura and divinitas in the works of Bernardus Silvestris. Additional chapters explore cross-cultural definitions of masculinity articulated through the biblical figure of David, the social networks and monastic patronage of the female lords of Braine, and the links between legal classifications of adultery and thirteenth-century fabliaux. The Journal continues its focuson source criticism with explorations of two Italian sources -- a Miscellany from the Piedmontese monastery of Novalesa and an overlooked Venetian source for Byzantine imperial history. A re-assessment of the legal and judicial activities of King Henry I rounds out the volume. Contributors: JASON BAXTER, LUIGI ANDREA BERTO, APRIL HARPER, JOHN HUDSON, RUTH MAZO KARRAS, MATT KING, BRIDGET K. RILEY, EDWARD M. SCHOOLMAN, YVONNE SEALE.

Beginning with Saint Barbatianus, a fifth-century wonderworking monk and confessor to the Empress Galla Placidia, this book focuses on the changes in the religious landscape of Ravenna, a former capital of the Late Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages. During this period, written stories about saints and their relics not only offered guidance and solace but were also used by those living among the ruins of a once great city-particularly its archbishops, monks, and the urban aristocracy-to reflect on its past glory. This practice remained important to the citizens of Ravenna as they came to terms with the city's revival and renewed relevance in the tenth century under Ottonian rule. In using the vita of Barbatianus as a central text, Edward M. Schoolman explores how saints and sanctity were created and ultimately came to influence complex political and social networks, from the Late Roman Empire to the High Middle Ages.