Although modernity historically defined itself by relation to the medieval, the ways in which early moderns invoked and conceptualized the medieval are still insufficiently understood. This volume's seventeen essays present some preliminary explorations into the field of early modern medievalisms.

The twenty-six essays in this volume examine the process of creating the Middle Ages. In doing so, they honour Leslie Workman, who has led the revival of the study of medievalism in the past two generations, and leads this sub-discipline towards the comprehensiveness that Lord Acton as early as 1859 had promised: 'Two great principles divide the world, and contend for the mastery: antiquity and the Middle Ages. These are the two civilizations that have preceded us, the two elements of which ours is composed. All political as well as religious questions reduce themselves practically to this. This is the great dualism that runs through our society.` While using differnt approaches and discussing topics in a variety of specialised fields, the contributions clearly centre on negotiating the reception of medieval culture in the Early Modern, Modern and Contemporary periods, thus presenting a broad and representative picture of current research in medievalism. Contributors include: Tabula Gratulatoria (Leslie Workman); Richard Utz and Tom Shippey, 'Medievalism in the Modern World: Introductory Perspectives'; Theresa Ann Sears, 'The Anxiety of Authority and Medievalizing the New World'; Richard Osberg, 'Humanist Allusions and Medieval Themes: The Receyving of Queen Anne, London, 1533'; John Simons, 'Christopher Middleton and Elizabethan Medievalism'; Bernard Rosenthal, 'Medievalism and the Salem Witch Trials'; Clare Simmons, 'Absent Presence: The Romantic-Era Magna Charta and the English Constitution'; R.J. Smith, 'The Swanscombe Legend and the Historiography of Kentish Gavelkind'; David Barclay, 'Representing the Middle Ages: Court Festivals in Nineteenth-Century Prussia'; Ulrich Muller, 'Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles? Walther von der Vogelweide, Hoffman von Fallersleben and the Song of the Germans: Medievalism, Nationalism and/or Racism'; Roger Simpson, 'St. George and the Pendragon'; Tom Shippey, 'The Death-Song of Ragnar Lodbrok: A Study in Sensibilities'; Alice Chandler, 'Carlyle and the Medievalism of the North'; Werner Wunderlich, 'Medieval Images: Joseph Viktor von Scheffel's Ekkehard and St. Gall'; Felicia Bonaparte, 'The (Fai)Lure of the Aesthetic Ideal and the (Re)Formation of Art: The Medieval Paradigm that Frames The Picture of Dorian Gray'; William Calin, 'Dante on the Edwardian Stage: Stephen Phillips' Paolo and Francesca; Kathleen Verduin, 'Medievalism, Classicism, and the Fiction of E.M. Forster; William D. Paden, 'Reconstructing the Middle Ages: The Monk's Sermon in The Seventh Seal; Rosemary Welsh, 'Theorizing Medievalism: The Case of Gone with the Wind; Gwendolyn Morgan, 'Gnosticism, the Middle Ages, and the Search for Responsibility: Im

An introduction to medievalism offering a balance of accessibility and sophistication, with comprehensive overviews as well as detailed case studies.

Jan Huizinga and Roger Caillois have already taught us to realize how important games and play have been for pre-modern civilization. Recent research has begun to acknowledge the fundamental importance of these aspects in cultural, religious, philosophical, and literary terms. This volume expands on the traditional approach still very much focused on the materiality of game (toys, cards, dice, falcons, dolls, etc.) and acknowledges that game constituted also a form of coming to terms with human existence in an unstable and volatile world determined by universal randomness and fortune. Whether considering blessings or horse fighting, falconry or card games, playing with dice or dolls, we can gain a much deeper understanding of medieval and early modern society when we consider how people pursued pleasure and how they structured their leisure time. The contributions examine a wide gamut of approaches to pleasure, considering health issues, eroticism, tournaments, playing music, reading and listening, drinking alcohol, gambling and throwing dice. This large issue was also relevant, of course, in non-Christian societies, and constitutes a critical concern both for the past and the present because we are all homines ludentes.

The first of a two-volume examination of medievalism and academic scholarship, this collection is divided into four sections: Canonizing Chaucer, Antiquarian loomings, Medievalism, medieval studies, and Medieval studies at the millennium. Medievalism, the "continuing process of creating the middle ages", engenders formal medieval studies from a wide variety of popular interests in the middle ages. This volume accordingly explores the common ground between artisticand popular constructions of the middle ages and the study of the middle ages within the academy. Essays treat the genesis of medieval studies in early modern antiquarianism; the erection of academic medievalism through persistent, indeed perverse, appeals to heroic medieval manliness and attenuated female spirituality; the current jeopardy of the book (a medieval invention) in the face of technological assau Contributors: DAVID O. MATTHEWS, STEVE ELLIS, ANTONIA WARD, GRAHAM PARRY, MARGARET CLUNIES ROSS, ANNA SMOL, DAVID ALLAN, MATILDE MATEO, MARYA DEVOTO, ULRIKE WIETHAUS, STEPHEN STEELE, JAMES KENNEDY, WILLIAM CALIN, JESSE D. HURLBUT, JOAN GRENIER-WINTHER, WILLIAM PADEN

From King Arthur and Robin Hood, through to video games and jousting-themed restaurants, medieval culture continues to surround us and has retained a strong influence on literature and culture throughout the ages. This fascinating and illuminating guide is written by two of the leading contemporary scholars of medieval literature, and explores: The influence of medieval cultural concepts on literature and film, including key authors such as Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Mark Twain The continued appeal of medieval cultural figures such as Dante, King Arthur, and Robin Hood The influence of the medieval on such varied disciplines such as politics, music, children’s literature, and art. Contemporary efforts to relive the Middle Ages. Medievalisms: Making the Past in the Present surveys the critical field and sets the boundaries for future study, providing an essential background for literary study from the medieval period through to the twenty-first century.

Today medievalism is increasingly intelligible as a cultural lingua franca, produced in trans- and international contexts with a view to reaching popular international audiences, some of mass scope. This book offers new perspectives on international relations and how global concerns are made available through contemporary medievalist texts. It questions how research in medievalism may help us rethink the terms of internationalism and globalism within popular cultures, ideologies, and political formations. It investigates how the diverse media of medievalism (print; film and television; arts and crafts; fashion; digital media; clubs and fandom) affect its cultural meaning and circulation, and its social function, and engage questions of desire, gender and identity construction. As a whole, International Medievalism and Popular Culture differs from those studies which have concentrated on imaginative appropriations of the middle ages for domestic cultural contexts. It investigates rather how contemporary cultures engage with medievalism to map and model ideas of the international, the trans-national, the cosmopolitan and the global. This book includes examples from Europe, Britain, North America, Australia and the Arab world. It discusses the formation and the impact of popular medievalism in the globalised worlds of Braveheart, Disney and Harry Potter, but it also explores how the contemporary medieval imaginary generates international cultural perspectives, for example in considering Middle Eastern reception of Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, the Byzantinism of Julia Kristeva, and Hedley Bull's postnationalist 'new medievalism'. International Medievalism in Popular Culture is an important contribution to medieval studies, cultural studies, and historical studies. It will be of value to undergraduate, postgraduate and academic readers, as well as to all interested in popular culture or medievalism.