Reading the Bible in the Middle Ages

Jinty Nelson is Emeritus Professor in the Department of History, King's College London, UK. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and has published extensively on early medieval Europe. Her research focus has been on kingship, government and political ideas, on religion and ritual, and increasingly on women and gender.Damien Kempf is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Liverpool, UK. His research focuses on the political and cultural history of medieval Europe (400-1200). He has recently published a new edition and an English translation of Paul the Deacon’s Liber de episcopis Mettensibus (2013).

• Introduction, Jinty Nelson (Kings College London, UK) and Damien Kempf (University of Liverpool, UK)1. Twelfth-century Notions of the Canon of the Bible, Cornelia Linde (German Historical Institute, UK)2. The Orator as Exegete: Cassiodorus as a Reader of the Psalms, Gerda Heydemann (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Austria))3. Lay Readers of the Bible in the Carolingian Ninth Century, Jinty Nelson (King’s College London, UK)4. Jeremiah, Job, Terence and Paschasius Radbertus: Political Rhetoric and Biblical Authority in the Epitaphium Arsenii, Mayke de Jong (University of Utrecht, The Netherlands)5. Biblical Readings for the Night Office in Eleventh-century Germany: Reconciling Theory and Practice, Henry Parkes (Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, UK)6. 'Quid nobis cum allegoria?' The Literal Reading of the Bible in the Era of the Investiture Contest, Florian Hartmann (University of Bonn, Germany)7. Sibyls, Tanners and Leper Kings: Taking Notes from the Bible in Twelfth-century England, Julie Barrau (Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, UK)7. Violence, Control, Prophecy and Power in Twelfth-century France and Germany, Claire Weeda (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)Further ReadingIndex

This is an excellent collection of essays demonstrating a wide variety of ways in which medieval people experienced and used Scripture. Particularly welcome is the consideration of audience and of the embedding of exegetical argumentation in wider political and personal aims.