Who’s Who in Medieval Southern Italy

Last May, I gave a short cameo paper on the theme of identities in 11th century southern Italy.  It revoles around two examples, one of the description of Duke Melo or Melus in William of Apulia’s poem in praise of Robert Guiscard (Book 1) and the second on the depiction of the Earth (tellus) in one of the Bari exultet rolls.

Read Who’s Who in Medieval Southern Italy.

Final scambi medievali papers at Leeds

This year’s International Medieval Congress will host our final conference papers for the Leverhulme Trust-funded project. I will be organising a session on the construction of family relationships in Norman Europe in which my paper will highlight the importance of objects on the occasion of marriage in 12th-century southern Italy. Patricia Skinner will be participating again in the Medieval Italy strand of the congress giving a paper on the rhythms of trade in Amalfi. Full details to session abstracts are linked below.

Patricia Skinner: Seasonal Business Patterns: Solving the Amalfitan ‘Enigma’?  in:

Session 621: Cities in Medieval Italy and Italians in Medieval Cities, I: New Approaches to Old Problems in Local and Long-Distance Trade, 10 July, 11.15-12.45

Tehmina Goskar: A Bed, a Mattress and a Pillow Full of Feathers: Practical Provisions upon Marriage in 12th-Century Southern Italy (download paper abstract) in:

Session 1627: Nearest and Dearest: The Construction of Family Relationships in Norman Europe, 12 July, 11-15-12.45

Medieval Italy programme, Leeds IMC

The programme for the International Medieval Congress 2006, Leeds, has just been released. There will be seven sessions over the week (10-13 July) dedicated to ‘Rethinking Medieval Italy’, the last of which will be a round-table discussion on 11 July. Both Patricia Skinner and Tehmina Goskar are contributing to this strand in the session entitiled: ‘Rethinking Geographical Boundaries and Paths of Exchange in Medieval Italy’ (session 320, 10 July 16.30-18.00). Patricia Skinner’s paper will be asking, “Did medieval Italy have an East/West divide?” and Tehmina Goskar’s paper will be on: “Material culture and local exchange in Apulia and Venice.”

Rethinking medieval Italy at Leeds

This year both Tehmina and I will be participating in an exciting strand at the Leeds International Medieval Congress, titled ‘Rethinking Medieval Italy’. The project has always challenged political and ethnic boundaries, and so our papers will be on ‘Material culture and local exchange in Puglia and Venice’ (TB), and ‘Did medieval Italy have an east/west divide?’ (PS). We look forward to seeing you there!

Bronze doors and their patrons in the 11th century

Long-distance trade and local politics in medieval Amalfi: Bronze doors and their patrons in the 11th century

I have recently reviewed the documentary evidence surrounding a series of magnificent bronze doors, at the cathedral in Amalfi, the church of S. Paolo fuori le Mura at Rome, the basilica of Montecassino and the pilgrimage site of S. Michele at Monte Sant’Angelo on the Gargano peninsula in southern Italy.

The medieval ‘southern Italian’ collections of the British Museum

Where did they come from? The medieval ‘southern Italian’ collections of the British Museum

On 15 February 2005, I delivered a short paper to the Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica (AIAC) at the Swedish Institute of Rome. The paper was largely based on my research at the British Museum where I was examining artefacts with a southern Italian provenance. My aim is to test and demonstrate methods with which museum objects can be interrogated as historical evidence.