Medieval and Early Modern Miscere 2019/20

Disrupting disciplines; problematising periodisation

Medieval and Early Modern Miscere is a project that looks to support the fourth year of coordination of early period scholars working in the Arts and Humanities. In its first three years, this series hosted nine public lectures. The visiting speakers for these extremely well-attended events also acted as visiting instructors in courses dedicated to medieval studies, and they lead intensive workshops. 

King or Messiah? 'Adel Shah's Uprising in Gilan

with Nazak Birjandifar, PhD, Assistant Professor of History, Mount Royal University

Event Details
February 27, 2020
4:30 p.m.
Ideas Lounge (EL1270)

Riddell Library and Learning Centre

Cash bar (cards only accepted); snacks

 

After the demise of the Kiyayi dynasty in Gilan in 1592 and the beginning of the last phase of the Safavid policy of incorporating Gilan into their polity, the then still loosely integrated province witnessed several local uprisings. One of these uprisings, that of ‘Adel Shah, has generally been characterized as a messianic movement. However, this characterization becomes less meaningful when these uprisings are evaluated collectively in the context of Safavid centralization policies and Gilani resistance to these policies.

Fortifications and Vikings: the Defence of England

with Courtnay Konshuh, PhD, Assistant Professor of History, University of Calgary

Event Details
January 28, 2020
4:30 p.m.
Ideas Lounge (EL1270)

Riddell Library and Learning Centre

Cash bar (cards only accepted); snacks

 

This paper explores the programme of fortification-building begun in the reign of Alfred the Great and continued by his successors Edward the Elder of Wessex and Lady Æthelflæd of the Mercians in the Tenth Century. Ostensively constructed to defend against Viking raiders, Dr. Konshuh considers the place of these fortifications in contemporary propaganda and their importance in the ascension of Wessex and the birth of England in the early tenth century.

Peasants and Policing in the Middle Ages: How Villages Dealt with Crime in Thirteenth-Century England 

with Kenneth Duggan, PhD, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of Toronto
Event Details
November 18, 2019
4:30 p.m.
Ideas Lounge (EL1270)

Riddell Library and Learning Centre

Cash bar (cards only accepted); snacks

 

Kenneth will discuss how, without a police force, criminals were apprehended in thirteenth-century England. In particular, his talk will question the efficacy of the system of communal peacekeeping known as the frankpledge system, and it will offer an alternative means upon which the government came to rely on the pursuit and apprehension of killers and thieves. Kenneth will also discuss whether or not developments in peacekeeping increased the medieval English state’s control over law and order in localities.
About
Kenneth Duggan, PhD, is currently an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the University of Toronto. He works on medieval crime and punishment, living standards, peasants, and social control. His publications have been awarded the David Yale Prize, the Leonard Boyle Prize, and the Pollard Prize.

The End of Philosophy: Ibn Khaldun's Fourteenth Century Prolegomena to a Science of History and Social Cohesion. 

with Karim Dharamsi, PhD, Professor, General Education, Mount Royal University
Event Details
October 29, 2019
4:30 p.m.
Ideas Lounge (EL1270)

Riddell Library and Learning Centre

Cash bar (cards only accepted); snacks

 

Karim will examine elements of Ibn Khaldun's often prescient treatise, The Muqaddimah. In particular, he will consider Ibn's repudiation of philosophy and defence of a scientific understanding of social organization. Karim will try to reconcile this view with Ibn Khaldun's metaphysics.  

About

Professor Karim Dharamsi, PhD, is the Chair of General Education at Mount Royal University. He has published work in the philosophy of history, on the philosophy of R.G. Collingwood, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Gottlob Frege, the philosophy of education and, more recently, on liberal education. 

The image is of the painting by Rembrandt van Rij, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632).

The Medieval Miscere Series is organized by David Clemis, PhD, (History, Department of Humanities, Mount Royal University) and Kenna L. Olsen, PhD, (English, Department of English, Languages, and Cultures, Mount Royal University) and sponsored by the Faculty of Arts Endeavour Fund (Mount Royal University).

For more information, please contact David Clemis, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities, or Kenna L. Olsen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of English, Languages, and Cultures.