medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Firstly, George's belated thanks gives me the opportunity to deliver one of my own. Some of your words last week where the kindest I can imagine, and I have been responding offlist rather than embarrass myself.
But the List as a Corporation (dare I say, a College? or (gulp) a Monasterium?) is to be thanked for delivering one of the key bits of material used in the first few minutes of the programme - a medieval source (in this case a consecration service) that links great church building to the idea of the Heavenly Jerusalem. This was a last-minute (if very reasonable) request from the BBC, and without sources and suggestions posted to this fine list I would have been very, very stuck indeed.
Secondly, I do not have statistics to support George's contention, but I was certainly struck while researching my book that, if publishing is anything to go by, scholarly interest in medieval buildings at least is at an absolute all-time high. Almost every English cathedral has in the last thirty years had at least one detailed monograph published on it, many of them definitive collections of essays on every aspect of history, liturgy and art. This 'programme' is itself a relatively young one, yet major works of synthesis such as Binski's Beckett's Crown are now appearing too.
One particular fact struck me very forcibly as an indication of this rude good health: the C11 east end of Rochester cathedral has a) been evidenced only by archaeology since it was rebuilt, around 1200; and b) is in any case part of one of England's less celebrated cathedrals. It is of interest mainly for the possibility that it had an unusually early square-ended design. Yet it has received no fewer than three major scholarly reassessments in the last ten years alone. For a long-vanished building of *relatively* narrow significance I suggest this is quite an achievement. Indeed one could claim that more intellectual energy is being focused on English medieval great churches now than at any time since they were built...
Jon
> Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:43:33 +0100
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [M-R] medieval studies - a growth industry?
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Dear medieval-religion colleagues,
>
> A professional colleague outside the university sphere has written me:
>
> 'I was talking to another medievalist and he mentioned that
> universities were investing less and less in medieval studies. Do you
> think that’s true?'
>
> It is my impression that universities are investing less and less in
> everything because they have less and less money. It is also,
> however, my impression that medieval studies are, generally speaking,
> thriving (if not actually growing). However, does anyone have any
> sort of statistic, applicable to their country, their state/region,
> their continent, their university network etc. about whether medieval
> studies are indeed growing, declining or remaining steady relative to
> other disciplines where you are?
>
> I am grateful for your input, which I shall share with my colleague.
>
> AND -- this is very important -- I just realized that I neglected to
> thank those of you who were so kind as to answer a series of queries
> I sent to the list a few months back about textual sources in a work
> I was editing. So, better late than never (and certainly with
> feeling): THANK YOU!! I was and am most grateful; your advice saved
> the day!
>
> George
>
> --
> George FERZOCO
> [log in to unmask]
>
> **********************************************************************
> To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
> to: [log in to unmask]
> To send a message to the list, address it to:
> [log in to unmask]
> To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
> to: [log in to unmask]
> In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
> [log in to unmask]
> For further information, visit our web site:
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
