This contribution sketches a conceptual history of the ideational component of community in the field of medieval studies. It shows that medieval scholars have usually proceeded from a 'strong' definition of communities, emphasized geographical boundaries, posited the importance of consensus, and focused on a common denominator that could be used to characterize the community. The traditional approach to community can be contrasted with the concept of a 'Community of Practice', which defines a community as a practice-based social group whose identity is based on shared performances of a repertoire that is in constant flux. An implementation of this approach can provide medievalists with the tools to re-interpret medieval communal identities as multiform and caught up in a continual process of renegotiation; and what this means for the way we conceptualize communal learning.
This article reviews the terminological framework used to describe manuscripts. The Lachmannian terminology allows scholars to classify manuscripts as versions or variants of a work on a purely textual basis, but lacks a rigid designator to indicate a (part of a) manuscript as a unit of text and material considerations. Conversely, scholars who adopt Dagenais's solution to renounce the work and concentrate on the material scriptum gain a rigid designator, but threaten to lose the ability to classify manuscripts at all. Proceeding from a case study, the article argues that the twelfth-century view of a work's ontological status enables medievalists to keep classifying their scripta on both textual and material grounds. It explores the possibility of using Dagenais's scriptum as the foundation for a Neo-Lachmannian terminological framework that allows scholars to study manuscript variance and materiality without losing the ability to classify them.
The purpose of this contribution is to refl ect on recent research on historiographical culture within the county of Flanders before the Dutch Revolt. It is a Que sais-je about a fi eld of scholarship, whose scope and interpretative framework is now being reconsidered in light of the booming fi eld of 'memory studies' and the recent advancements in the study of both the theory and practice of late medieval politics 2 . In consequence, specifi c forms of pre-modern historiography are now increasingly understood as a part of a broader set of practices that allowed specifi c groups to construct and to propagate a particular social and political interpretation of the past and the present vis-à-vis the political community as a whole. Recent scholarship is increasingly focused on the intricate connections between late medieval chronicles and the memorial practices of specifi c individuals and social networks.The starting point of this line of enquiry was the age-old observation that pre-modern chronicles were usually quite ambitious in their scope. They also intended to fi xate the remembering and understanding of specifi c events for many generations to come. A clear-cut example of how chronicles could be used to infl uence the perception of both the contemporaries and future generations is provided by Der Weisskunig and Theuerdank, both commissioned by Maximilian of Austria, who ruled the Low Countries from 1482 to 1493 as regent for his
The Evolution of Patron Saint Libelli as Propagandist Instruments in the Monastery of Stavelot-Malmedy, 938-1247 tjamke snijdersThe functionality of a hagiographical text in the High Middle Ages depended on the codex in which it was incorporated. As a result, a manuscript perspective is indispensable to assess the communicative function of a medieval saint's life. This article analyses five codices concerning Saint Remaclus from the monastery of Stavelot-Malmedy as a way to study the changing strategies of hagiographic propaganda. The community of Stavelot-Malmedy experienced a growing need to increase the propagandist user-friendliness of their manuscripts between the tenth and the thirteenth century. A tenth-century manuscript consisted of a jumble of texts about Remaclus and Stavelot-Malmedy intended for a very broad audience. A second generation of codices consisted of a collection of texts better tailored to a more narrowly defined audience, while the third generation focuses almost exclusively on very specific, contemporary problems. An analysis of these manuscripts shows that these 'generations' or general types of manuscripts were representative of the Benedictine Southern Low Countries, and that an abbey's choice for a specific type of manuscript can often be linked to its institutional position.The main function of high medieval hagiography is often described as 'propagandist'. In this context the word is used to refer not to embryonic forms of an information policy using mass media, but to 'the public treatment (both oral and written) of contemporary controversies in order to influence views of a wider audience'. 1 Hagiographic texts were written to promote a saint, spreading the tale of his or her life of virtue and courageous piety so
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.