Building on over a century of scholarly achievements and advances, this book addresses the core problem of how to incorporate gender in the study of the history of medieval Europe, and why it is important to do so. Providing a succinct overview of the field, Patricia Skinner guides us through debates and innovations in the study of gender in medieval history. Noting that the rise of gender studies has happened at a different pace in different regions, this unique text addresses the national variations of approach visible in US and European scholarly traditions. Packed with key authors, alternative approaches and suggestions for engaging with medieval sources, this text is an essential tool for students and scholars of medieval history at all levels.

What was a "garden" in medieval and early modern British culture and how was it imagined? How did it change as Europe opened up to the wider world from the 16th century onwards? In a series of fresh approaches to these questions, the contributors offer chapters that identify and discuss newly-discovered pre-modern garden spaces in archaeology and archival sources, recognize a gendered language of the garden in fictional descriptions ("fictional" here being taken to mean any written text, regardless of its purpose), and offer new analysis of the uses to which gardens - real and imagined - might be put. Chapters investigate the definitions, forms and functions of physical gardens; explore how the material space of the garden was gendered as a secluded space for women, and as a place of recreation; examine the centrality of garden imagery in medieval Christian culture; and trace the development of garden motifs in the literary and artistic imagination to convey the sense of enclosure, transformation and release. The book uniquely underlines the current environmental "turn" in the humanities, and increasingly recognizes the value of exploring human interaction with the landscapes of the past as a route to health and well-being in the present.

The later Middle Ages in Europe c.1150–c.1500 can be viewed as an extensive scientific laboratory, with scholars and other writers producing texts that sought to define and redefine the human body – in relation to its daily work and environment, and in relation to God. This volume draws on written and visual evidence from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, placing gender at the centre of its enquiries, addressing the relationship between the human and the ‘natural’ (including the non-human) at a time when new worlds, new texts and new religious experiences were reshaping the individual and collective relationship with the cosmos, and challenging as well as reinforcing established hierarchies.

What was a "garden" in medieval and early modern British culture and how was it imagined? How did it change as Europe opened up to the wider world from the 16th century onwards? In a series of fresh approaches to these questions, the contributors offer chapters that identify and discuss newly-discovered pre-modern garden spaces in archaeology and archival sources, recognize a gendered language of the garden in fictional descriptions ("fictional" here being taken to mean any written text, regardless of its purpose), and offer new analysis of the uses to which gardens - real and imagined - might be put. Chapters investigate the definitions, forms and functions of physical gardens; explore how the material space of the garden was gendered as a secluded space for women, and as a place of recreation; examine the centrality of garden imagery in medieval Christian culture; and trace the development of garden motifs in the literary and artistic imagination to convey the sense of enclosure, transformation and release. The book uniquely underlines the current environmental "turn" in the humanities, and increasingly recognizes the value of exploring human interaction with the landscapes of the past as a route to health and well-being in the present.

This book is open access under a CC-BY 4.0 license. This book examines social and medical responses to the disfigured face in early medieval Europe, arguing that the study of head and facial injuries can offer a new contribution to the history of early medieval medicine and culture, as well as exploring the language of violence and social interactions. Despite the prevalence of warfare and conflict in early medieval society, and a veritable industry of medieval historians studying it, there has in fact been very little attention paid to the subject of head wounds and facial damage in the course of war and/or punitive justice. The impact of acquired disfigurement -for the individual, and for her or his family and community-is barely registered, and only recently has there been any attempt to explore the question of how damaged tissue and bone might be treated medically or surgically. In the wake of new work on disability and the emotions in the medieval period, this study documents how acquired disfigurement is recorded across different geographical and chronological contexts in the period.

This book is open access under a CC-BY 4.0 license. This book examines social and medical responses to the disfigured face in early medieval Europe, arguing that the study of head and facial injuries can offer a new contribution to the history of early medieval medicine and culture, as well as exploring the language of violence and social interactions. Despite the prevalence of warfare and conflict in early medieval society, and a veritable industry of medieval historians studying it, there has in fact been very little attention paid to the subject of head wounds and facial damage in the course of war and/or punitive justice. The impact of acquired disfigurement -for the individual, and for her or his family and community-is barely registered, and only recently has there been any attempt to explore the question of how damaged tissue and bone might be treated medically or surgically. In the wake of new work on disability and the emotions in the medieval period, this study documents how acquired disfigurement is recorded across different geographical and chronological contexts in the period.

'Rich in gold and cloths'? This is the first full-length study of the history of medieval maritime republic of Amalfi that addresses both the internal political, social, and economic history of Amalfi - as an independent city-state, under Norman rule and as part of the Kingdom of Sicily - and the history of its diaspora, those Amalfitans who left temporarily or permanently and whose activities contributed to the image of their home city as a thriving centre specialising in the luxury end of the market. In reuniting these two disparate strands of its history, Patricia Skinner argues that, instead of being seen in opposition to each other, the very different evidence presented by the internal documentary archives and the narrative accounts of external observers can and should be utilised to reconstruct the ties which bound the emigrants to their home city. By taking a prosopographical approach, she reveals the presence of Amalfitans in many parts of the Italian peninsula and further afield in the Mediterranean. At the same time, she critically re-examines some of the externally-generated views of Amalfitan wealth, suggesting that these may have as much - or more - to do with literary and patronage networks as with the actual situation on the ground.

Accounts of specific communities and themes build to a comprehensive picture of Jews in England C11 - C13. Britain's medieval Jewish community arrived with the Normans in 1066 and was expelled from the country in 1290. This is the first time in many years that its life has been comprehensively examined for a student and general readership. Beginning with an introduction setting the medieval British experience into its European context, the book continues with three chapters outlining the history of the Jews' presence and a discussion of where they settled. Further chapters then explore themes such as their relationship with the Christian church, Jewish women's lives, the major types of evidence used by historians, the latest evidence emerging from archaeological exploration, and new approaches from literary studies. The book closes with a reappraisal of one of the best-known communities, that at York. Drawing together the work of experts in the field, and supported by an extensive bibliographical guide, this isa valuable and revealing account of medieval Jewish history in Britain. Patricia Skinner is a Wellcome Research Fellow in the College of Arts and Humanities, Swansea University. Contributors: ANTHONY BALE, SUZANNE BARTLETT, PAUL BRAND, BARRIE DOBSON, JOHN EDWARDS, JOSEPH HILLABY, D.A. HINTON, ROBIN MUNDILL, ROBERT C. STACEY.

This book looks at family-based political power in three south Italian cities--Gaeta, Amalfi and Naples--and examines the ways in which medieval families can be reconstructed and their relationships with each other studied. It analyzes the changes that took place in these cities, particularly in the eleventh century, and their reactions to the Norman conquest of southern Italy in the latter part of the century. This is the first comparative study of the three cities and it is of special relevance to European studies of the early medieval family and state structures.

This text explores how political power was exerted and family identity expressed in the context of reconstruction of the noble families of the medieval duchies of Gaeta, Amalfi and Naples. Localized forms of power, and the impact of the Norman conquest on southern Italy, are assessed by means of a remarkable collection of charters preserved in the Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus. The duchy of Gaeta, like its neighbours, was ruled as a private family business. An integral part of its ruling family's power was its monopolization of parts of the duchy's economy, the use of members of the clan to rule local centres. When the family broke up, the duchy fell to outside predators. The three duchies reacted in different ways to the Normans. Gaeta flourished commercially in the 12th century, and its unique political response to contacts with the cities of northern Italy (especially Genoa) forms the final part of this study. Dr Skinner also demostrates that the socio-economic basis for power is as important as its political exercise, and it overturns many conventional views on the workings of early medieval power structures.

A comprehensive survey of recent work in Medieval Italian history and archaeology by an international cast of contributors, arranged within a broader context of studies on other regions and major historical transitions in Europe, c.400 to c.1400CE. Each of the contributors reflect on the contribution made to the field by Chris Wickham, whose own work spans studies based on close archival work, to broad and ambitious statements on economic and social change in the transition from Roman to medieval Europe, and the value of comparing this across time and space.

What is a face and how does it relate to personhood? Approaching Facial Difference: Past and Present offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the many ways in which faces have been represented in the past and present, focusing on the issue of facial difference and disfigurement read in the light of shifting ideas of beauty and ugliness. Faces are central to all human social interactions, yet their study has been much overlooked by disability scholars and historians of medicine alike. By examining the main linguistic, visual and material approaches to the face from antiquity to contemporary times, contributors place facial diversity at the heart of our historical and cultural narratives. This cutting-edge collection of essays will be an invaluable resource for humanities scholars working across history, literature and visual culture, as well as modern practitioners in education and psychology.

How did the Welsh travel beyond their geographical borders in the Middle Ages? What did they do, what did they take with them in their baggage, and what did they bring back? This book seeks for the first time to capture the medieval Welsh on the move, and core to its purpose is the exploration of identity within and outside the Welsh territories - particularly since `Welsh' may have become a fluid term to describe a stranger, often pejoratively. The contributors also seek to explore the nature of `Welsh history' as a discipline. How can a consideration of the Welsh abroad draw upon wider paradigms of nationhood, diaspora and colonisation; economic migration; gender relations; and the pursuit of educational, religious and cultural opportunities? Is there anything specifically `Welsh' about the experiences of medieval migrants and correspondents? And what can the medieval experience of Welsh people exploring the then known world contribute to the longer-term history of emigration and exchange? Examining archaeological, historical and literary evidence together, this book enables a better understanding of the ways in which people from Wales interacted with and understood their near and distant neighbours.

What is a face and how does it relate to personhood? Approaching Facial Difference: Past and Present offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the many ways in which faces have been represented in the past and present, focusing on the issue of facial difference and disfigurement read in the light of shifting ideas of beauty and ugliness. Faces are central to all human social interactions, yet their study has been much overlooked by disability scholars and historians of medicine alike. By examining the main linguistic, visual and material approaches to the face from antiquity to contemporary times, contributors place facial diversity at the heart of our historical and cultural narratives. This cutting-edge collection of essays will be an invaluable resource for humanities scholars working across history, literature and visual culture, as well as modern practitioners in education and psychology.