Authorship, Worldview, and Identity in Medieval Europe (Studies in Medieval History and Culture)

What did medieval authors know about their world? Were they parochial and focused on just their monastery, town, or kingdom? Or were they aware of the broader medieval Europe that modern historians write about? This collection brings the focus back to medieval authors to see how they described their world. While we see that each author certainly had their own biases, the vast majority of them did not view the world as constrained to their small piece of it. Instead, they talked about the wider world, and often they had informants or textual sources that informed them about the world, even if they did not visit it themselves. This volume shows that they also used similar ideas to create space and identity – whether talking about the desert, the holy land, or food practices in their texts. By examining medieval authors and their own perceptions of their world, this collection offers a framework for discussions of medieval Europe in the twenty-first century. This collection of essays brings the focus back to medieval authors to see how they described their world. While we see that each author certainly had their own biases, the vast majority of them did not view the world as constrained to their small piece of it Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of Figures 9 List of Tables 11 List of Contributors 12 Acknowledgements 16 Chapter 1: Introduction – the Medieval World Then and Now 1 18 Notes 29 Part I: A Wider World 32 Chapter 2: The Horizons of Gregory of Tours 34 The World Witnessed from Tours 36 The North: An Ecclesiastical Frontier 37 The Holy Land: A Union of Geography and Theology 39 Rome: City of Martyrs and Pagans 40 The Greater Levant: A Landscape of Spiritual Power 43 Conclusion 46 Notes 46 Bibliography 51 Primary Sources 51 Secondary Sources 52 Chapter 3: When Worldviews Collide?: The Travel Narratives of Haraldr Sigurðarson of Norway 55 Travel and Authority in the World of Haraldr Sigurðarson 57 Travel to the East, Otherness, and the Commonplace in the Poetry of Haraldr and His Skalds 58 The Varangian and the Dog-Headed Warrior in Kiev 62 Conclusion 68 Notes 69 Bibliography 73 Chapter 4: Concubinage in New Contexts: Interfaith Borrowings and the Rulers of Castile-León in the High Middle Ages 77 Introduction 77 The Invention of Christian Iberian Concubinage 80 Problematic Precedents 80 Strategic Borrowings: Alfonso VI (r. 1065–1109) 82 (Re)Gendering Expectations: Urraca I (r. 1109–1126) 85 Concubinal Consolidation: Alfonso VII (r. 1126–1157) 87 Conclusion 89 Notes 90 Bibliography 95 Chapter 5: Finding Byzantine-Norman Common Ground: Classics and Christianity in Tzetzes’ Encomium to Loukia 100 Ioannes Tzetzes and the Text 101 Byzantines and Normans in the Mid-twelfth Century 104 Tzetzes’ Loukia and Byzantine-Norman Common Ground 107 Conclusion 110 Notes 111 Bibliography 116 Primary Sources 116 Secondary Sources 117 Chapter 6: Imagined Geographies in Early Rus’ 121 Reading the Map 121 Borrowed Geographies 121 Native Geographies 124 River Routes of Trade and Faith 125 Etiology and Geography 127 Conclusions 130 Notes 131 Bibliography 135 Chapter 7: The Globe in Thirteenth-Century Hispania : Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada and His World 139 Notes 152 Bibliography 157 Chapter 8: The Worldview of Marco Polo’s Devisament dou monde : Commercial Marvels, Silk Route Nostalgia, and Global Empire in the Late Middle Ages 1 159 Nostalgia for a Lost Mercantile Network 163 Desirable Commodities and Paradisiacal Entrepôts 166 The New Alchemist’s Economic System of Paper Money 170 The Fall Back into Empire 173 Conclusions: Global Trade, Power, and Corruption 176 Notes 178 Bibliography 182 Sources 182 Studies 184 Chapter 9: Treasuries as Windows to the Medieval World: San Isidoro de León and Saint Blaise at Braunschweig 188 The Treasuries at León and Braunschweig: Site-Specific Sources 192 Inscribed Selves on Site: A Herstory 197 Ivory Horns of Plenty: A Wide World 200 Glistening Gold, Gems, and the Shape of Things: Local Prestige 202 Conclusion: Treasuries as Windows 203 Notes 204 Bibliography 211 Part II: Neighbours and Neighbourhoods 216 Chapter 10: Adam of Bremen’s View at the Polabian Slavs 218 Notes 228 Bibliography 232 Literature 233 Chapter 11: Into the Wild West: Two Twelfth-Century Clerics’ Views of Medieval Brittany 236 Precursors 237 Baudri de Bourgueil 239 Robert of Arbrissel 243 Conclusion 245 Notes 246 Bibliography 252 Primary Sources 252 Secondary Sources 252 Chapter 12: An Irish Sea King?: Ethnicity and Legitimacy in the Vita Griffini Filii Conani and Historia Gruffud vab Kenan 255 “On the Friendliest Terms and Greatest Concord with Neighbouring Kings” 19 257 Daenysseit, Gwydyl, and Gwyndit in Historia Gruffud vab Kenan 261 Conclusions 265 Notes 266 Bibliography 270 Chapter 13: Saxo and the Peoples to the East 273 In a Mythical Time – the Larger Oikumene 275 Closer Contact, Closer Alliances 279 King of the Wends 282 Notes 285 Bibliography 287 Primary Sources 287 Secondary Sources 287 Chapter 14: Is There Any Other World?: Imagination of the Outside World in the Medieval Historiography of the Czech Lands Based on the Chronicles Cosmas of Prague, So-Called Dalimil and Přibík Pulkava of Radenín 289 Notes 299 Bibliography 306 Primary Sources 306 Secondary Sources 306 Chapter 15: “Und gras vor spise zeren”: Migration, Fermentation, and the Map of Civilization in the Baltic Crusades 309 Notes 319 Bibliography 325 Chapter 16: Bulgaria – “The New Byzantium”: Political Ideology and Self-Perception in a Medieval Balkan State 328 Notes 336 Works Cited 339 Primary Sources 339 Secondary Literature 340 Chapter 17: Medieval Welsh Ethnic Nicknames and Implications: For the Welsh View of Their Geopolitical Context, 1050–1400 344 Sais 346 Gwyddel 351 Conclusion 355 Notes 356 Bibliography 360 Index 363 High,Middle,Ages;,holy,land;,authorship;,medieval,authors;,medieval,Europe High Middle Ages,holy land,authorship,medieval authors,medieval Europe List of figures -- List of tables -- List of contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction- the medieval world then and now / Christian Raffensperger -- The Horizons of Gregory of Tours / Erin Thomas Dailey -- When world views collide? The travel narratives of Haraldr Sigurðarson of Norway / Bjørn Bandlien -- Concubinage in new contexts: interfaith borrowings and the rulers of Castile-León in the High Middle Ages / Stacey E. Murrell -- Finding Byzantine-Norman common ground: classics and Christianity in Tzetzes' Encomium to Loukia / Hannah Ewing -- Imagined geographies in Early Rus' / Inés García de la Puente -- The globe in thirteenth-century Hispania: Archbishop Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada and his world / Lucy K. Pick -- The world view of Marco Polo's Devisament dou monde: commercial marvels, Silk Route nostalgia and global empire in the Late Middle Ages / Teresa Shawcross -- Treasuries as windows to the medieval world: San Isidoro de León and Saint Blaise at Braunschweig / Jitske Jasperse -- Adam's of Bremen view of the Polabian Slavs / Christian Lübke -- Into the Wild West: two twelfth-century clerics' view of medieval Brittany / Amy Livingstone -- An Irish sea king?: ethnicity and legitimacy in the Vita Griffini filii Conani and Historia Gruffud vab Kenan / Rebecca Thomas -- Saxo and the Slavs / Kurt Villads Jensen -- Is there any other world? Imagination of the outside world in the medieval historiography of the Czech lands based on the chronicles Cosmas of Prague, so called Dalimil and Přibík Pulkava of Radenín / David Kalhous -- 'Und gras vor spise zeren': migration, fermentation, and the map of civilization in the Baltic Crusades / Paul Milliman -- Bulgaria - the new Byzantium: Political ideology and self-perception in a medieval Balkan State / Panos Sophoulis -- Medieval Welsh ethnic nicknames and implications for the Welsh view of their geopolitical context, 1050-1400 / Frederick Suppe -- Index. "What did medieval authors know about their world? Were they parochial and focused on just their monastery, town, or kingdom? Or were they aware of the broader medieval Europe that modern historians write about? This collection of essays brings the focus back to medieval authors to see how they described their world. By examining medieval authors and their own perception of their world, this collection of essays offers a framework for discussions of medieval Europe in the twenty-first century"-- Provided by publisher