A Medieval Woman's Companion

I’m delighted to say that my article on “Six Trailblazing Medieval Women” has appeared on the BBC History Magazine website. My editors at Oxbow Books who publish A Medieval Woman’s Companion: Women’s Lives in the European Middle Ages arranged this connection. Social media is a great way to share the lives of dynamic and influential … More Six Trailblazing Medieval Women: BBC History Magazine

My dear colleague, lyric genius Cyrus Cassells, has just published a poem that should appeal to those interested in medieval women. Called “Spring and the Spirit of Saint Joan,” Cyrus’s newest publication appears in the inaugural issue of AMP from Hofstra University. In that rushing, animate place where Saint Joan bent and sipped from the … More New Medieval Poetry: The Lyrical Cyrus Cassells and Joan of Arc

Medieval women dominated my experience the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies, an annual conference that takes place at Western Michigan University.  Imagine thousands of medievalists rushing to sessions with titles such as “Fanfiction in Medieval Studies” and “‘Get Ye Flask’: Friars and Uroscopy in Medieval England” (uroscopy being the science of analyzing urine). The … More Female Fun at Kalamazoo: All the Single (and Married) Ladies at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies

Queen Aethelthryth had two chaste marriages. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, “To have one chaste marriage may be regarded as good fortune. To have two chaste marriages looks like calculation.” The wonderful novelist, Candace Robb, writes about medieval mischief–death, murder, and intrigue–in her rich and addictive novels set … More Inspiring Novelists with “A Medieval Woman’s Companion”

It’s exciting to imagine Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe meeting again after all these years.  They first met at Julian’s cell in Norwich, where Margery came for advice and counsel–and also, perhaps, to receive sanction for her own visions from an established and approved visionary.  Now two manuscripts from these founding women writers in … More Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe: Together After All These Years

I have been ruminating about sheep. Rumination, to ponder about something, comes from the Latin ruminare, “to chew over again.” Sheep are ruminants. Metaphorically, humans are as well. Lest you think there is something kinky going on, let me assure you my interest in sheep stems from long-standing encounters from my childhood, trekking over heather-festooned … More Mutton Meditations and Ungulate Ruminations: Sheep and Medieval Women

Story Circle’s Susan Wittig Albert reviewed A Medieval Woman’s Companion. Albert writes, “A Medieval Woman’s Companion is—I’m not exaggerating here—the best introduction I know of to the widely-varied lives of medieval women….Borrowing from the Irish poet Eavan Boland, [Morrison] reminds us that the past needs us: “That very past in poetry which simplified us as … More Review of “A Medieval Woman’s Companion”

A Julian of Norwich pilgrimage may not seem to have much to do with suspicions that I was an industrial spy (spoiler alert: I’m not!).  My innocent journey to trace Julian’s life took on comic dimensions when I was a graduate student many years ago. I took a pilgrimage to the reconstructed anchorite cell of … More A Julian of Norwich Pilgrimage or My Days as an Industrial Spy

Medievalists.net has a fun new article: “Girls’ Names from Medieval London (not the usual ones!)” While Scolastica appeals to the academic in me, the party-going side finds Dyonisia intriguing.  Could it is the feminine form of Dionysius, the god of wine? Apparently there is a medieval ghost of that name! And whatever happened to folks … More Naming Your Baby Girl the Medieval Way