Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto

Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto CMS hosts one of the largest interdisciplinary medieval studies programs in the world.

The field of Medieval Studies is concerned with the history, thought, and artistic expression of the various cultures on the European continent over the course of a millennium (circa 500–1500). It arose as a challenge to traditional intellectual conventions, an alternative way of integrating bodies of knowledge that were becoming separated, and of pursuing matters that had been neglected. The Cent

re for Medieval Studies was envisaged by its founders not just as an institutional umbrella for traditional departments but as a meeting point at which topics and issues for multiple disciplines would be explored and studied in depth. Medieval Studies in Toronto has an international reputation, resting on the wide-ranging interests of its faculty, the calibre and preparation of its graduates, and its outstanding library facilities. The Centre coordinates a program that includes various resources of the Pontifical Institute of Mediæval Studies and of a wide variety of participating departments and programs within the University of Toronto. The Centre also sponsors several major research projects, and is home to a large body of scholars, numerous publication series, and to medieval drama and music groups. The Centre represents a large and highly interactive community of professionals who work in widely diverse area.

📣 Chronica XII now available!https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news-events/cms-chronicaRead it online (accessible .pdf or...
09/03/2026

📣 Chronica XII now available!
https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news-events/cms-chronica
Read it online (accessible .pdf or web version), or drop by and get a printed copy!
Sincere thanks to all of our contributors: Elisa Brilli, Emily Clarke, Giulia Depoli, (Detective) Grace Desa, James Ginther, Thomas Kalil, Peter King, Jack McCart, Anahita Monfared, Cillian O'Hogan, Rebby Onken, Carin Ruff, John Schechtman-Marko, Terri Sanderson, Kristina Sessa, and Kyle Smith!

09/01/2026

Infirmeries monastiques et hospices. Lieux de soin du Moyen Âge à l’époque moderne, eds. Anne Baud, Susan Boynton, Isabelle Cochelin, Anne Flammin (Brepols, August 2026)

https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503619248-1

Summary

How were healthcare spaces set up in medieval and early modern Europe, who worked in them, and who were the patients? These questions were considered by archaeologists and historians during a conference at the abbey of Cluny in 2022. The contributions in this collection display a wide variety of approaches: some chapters focus on specific places, while others address the historical conditions of places of care in specific regions, countries, or religious orders. The first part of the volume is dedicated to Cluny, with seven articles covering the period from the tenth to the sixteenth century. They explore different phases of the monastic infirmary—drawing on manuscripts and material remains, particularly those brought to light by the archaeological excavations carried out between 2015 and 2019—as well as the town’s hospices. The second part broadens the perspective to western Europe, with nine contributions. Reflecting a diversity of approaches, these studies combine specificity with synthesis, greatly enhancing our understanding of places of care in premodern Europe.

CONTENTS:

Introduction -- Eleonora Destefanis

Première partie. Cluny (abbaye et ville), du Moyen Âge central jusqu’au XVIIe siècle

L’infirmerie monastique de Cluny du Xe au XVIIIe siècle -- Anne Baud, Anne Flammin

Infirmerie et infirmier à Cluny au prisme des coutumiers -- Isabelle Cochelin

End-of-Life Care at Cluny, and Today -- Frederick S. Paxton

Infirmeries, malades et édifices : la vision normative des statuts clunisiens depuis Pierre le Vénérable -- Arlette Maquet

Les paradoxes de la table monastique : une enquête archéozoologique à l’infirmerie de Cluny -- Benoît Clavel, Philippe Pauthier

Remèdes et soins autour de l’abbaye de Cluny au XVe–XVIe siècle : Londres, Wellcome Collection, MS. 626 -- Elma Brenner

Établissements d’accueil et de soins dans l’espace urbain et péri-urbain de la ville de Cluny -- Clarisse Couderc

Deuxième partie. Ailleurs en Europe, du Moyen Âge central jusqu’au XVIIe siècle

Au pied du mur : l’ordonnancement des établissements d’accueil et de soin de la ville d’Orléans (VIIe–XIIIe siècles) -- Diane Carron

The Medical Facilities and *domus infirmorum* on the Plan of Saint Gall -- Alfons Zettler

*Cella* – *domus* – *ecclesia*. Remarks on the Architectural Evolution of Cistercian Infirmaries -- Gaby Lindenmann-Merz

La nature des soins hospitaliers en milieu urbain aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles -- Adam J. Davis

Les infirmeries de l’abbaye cistercienne de Beaulieu (Hampshire), d’après ses comptes (1269–1270) -- Arnaud Delerce

Infirmeries et soins de santé dans les abbayes de Wallonie (13e–18e siècle) -- Caroline Bolle, Michel Dubuisson

Capuchin Medical Care: Traditions, Context, and Literary Offspring -- Bert Roest

Entre Mal des ardents et « démembrés ». Le grand hôpital de l’abbaye de Saint-Antoine (Isère), d’après les données historiques et les études archéologiques -- Laurent D’Agostino

La population malade de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon (1529–1629). Archives versus archéothanatologie -- Emma Bouvard-Mor, Cyrille Ducourthial

Conclusions -- Daniel-Odon Hurel, avec la collaboration de Pascale Chevalier

Read "Materiality, Sensory Experience, and the Sacraments in Late Medieval Tournaisian Wills" by Ariana Sider Mésenge in...
08/31/2026

Read "Materiality, Sensory Experience, and the Sacraments in Late Medieval Tournaisian Wills" by Ariana Sider Mésenge in "The Role of the Senses in Medieval Liturgies, Rituals, and Devotional Practices", edited by Zuleika Murat, Valentina Baradel, and Sara Carreño (Brepols, 2026).

Brepols is an international academic publisher of works in the humanities, with a particular focus in history, archaeology, history of the arts, language and literature, and critical editions of historical sources

08/31/2026

We’re jumping into the Odyssey movie discourse, finally! We discuss our reactions to the Nolan movie and what we found interesting about it, and then chat with some podcasters who’ve just released relevant books! Oh, and Marcie has a song about Odysseus.

Author Talk: Nerd Faith by Rachel KesslerSeptember 8, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland
08/26/2026

Author Talk: Nerd Faith by Rachel Kessler
September 8, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland

Join Rachel Kessler, known to millions as the Nerdy Priest on TikTok, for a fun and thought-provoking conversation exploring the intersection of faith, fandom, and pop culture. Drawing from her book Nerd Faith: […]

Listen to The Spouter-Inn podcast with Michael Collins and Suzanne Conklin Akbari, episode 94 "Gaudy Night / Witch".
08/25/2026

Listen to The Spouter-Inn podcast with Michael Collins and Suzanne Conklin Akbari, episode 94 "Gaudy Night / Witch".

Dorothy L. Sayers’s novel Gaudy Night and Jen Silverman’s play Witch.

08/25/2026

A Companion to Godfrey of Fontaines, eds. Antoine Côté, Martin Pickavé, and Michael Szlachta (Brilll, August 2026)

https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60062

Eleven leading scholars team up to produce the first book-length treatment of a wide spectrum of issues in the philosophical thought of Godfrey of Fontaines, one of the most prominent thinkers at the University of Paris in the last quarter of the thirteenth century. The book covers all major areas of Godfrey’s philosophical thought—from metaphysics and natural philosophy to psychology, epistemology, ethics and social and political philosophy—exploring his connections with other intellectual figures of his time. The volume also presents an up-to-date account of Godfrey’s life.

CONTENTS:

Introduction -- Antoine Côté, Martin Pickavé, Michael Szlachta

Part 1. Godfrey of Fontaines’s Life in Context

Godfrey of Fontaines’s Life, Career, and Library -- Andrea Aiello

The Status and Role of the Master of Theology: Godfrey of Fontaines’s Self-Perception and Practice -- Elsa Marmursztejn

Part 2. The Philosophical Thought of Godfrey of Fontaines

Godfrey of Fontaines on Metaphysics -- Martin Pickavé

Giles of Rome, Godfrey of Fontaines, and Hervaeus Natalis on Celestial Matter -- Silvia Donati

Godfrey of Fontaines on Cognition -- Giorgio Pini

Epistemology and the Psychology of Faith in Godfrey of Fontaines -- David Piché

Freedom from the Ground Up: The Intellectualism of Godfrey of Fontaines -- Michael Szlachta

Godfrey of Fontaines and the Possibility of Natural Morality -- Marialucrezia Leone

The Belgian Connection: Godfrey of Fontaines and Marguerite Porete -- Peter King

Godfrey of Fontaines’s Political Philosophy -- Alban Grandjean

Part 3. Texts and Manuscripts

Godfrey of Fontaines’s Earliest Manuscripts: A Window into the Teaching of Siger of Brabant -- Andrea Aiello

On the Authorship of Two Unedited Questions on Aptitudes Assigned to Godfrey of Fontaines -- Antoine Côté

08/25/2026

Journal of Medieval Military History XXIV (Boydell & Brewer, August 2024)

https://boydellandbrewer.com/book/journal-of-medieval-military-history-xxiv-9781837654758/

Volume 24 of the Journal of Medieval Military History takes a lengthy chronological sweep, from late antiquity to the late Middle Ages. It opens with Conor Whatley’s study of unit sizes during Justinian’s wars, which employs a wide diversity of sources to argue that sixth-century Roman unit sizes were standardized, and that Procopius’s figures are generally reliable. Georgios Theotokis uses Maurice’s Strategikon to highlight that the toolkit of Byzantine strategists, in Clausewitzian terms, included the “strategy of annihilation,” not just the “strategy of exhaustion”. Christopher P. Flynn’s new analysis of Andernach (876) likewise addresses the role of decisive battle in medieval strategy, examining Charles the Bald’s decision to force an engagement against Louis the Younger in the context of the volatile politics of the time, as well reconstructing the battle’s course. Intelligence and counterintelligence take center stage in David Bachrach’s study of the Salian era, showing how Henry IV and Rudolph of Rheinfelden collected information, and sought to conceal it from their enemies, during the crises of the 1070s. John France’s essay on the Field of Blood (1119) illuminates how terrain shaped operational and tactical choices, while L.J. Andrew Villalon’s discussion of Alfonso X’s Las Siete Partidas demonstrates how it encompassed a systematic military treatise – far more than a medieval echo of Vegetius – both reflecting and revealing Iberia’s thirteenth-century realities. The volume concludes with Michael Livingston’s presentation of new evidence on the disputed location of the battle of Crécy (1346), in the form of a local monument near Domvast dedicated to the battle’s fallen.

CONTENTS:

Unit Sizes in Procopius’ *Wars* -- Conor Whately

The Strategy of Annihilation in the *Strategikon* of Maurice -- Georgios Theotokis

The Battle of Andernach (876) in Carolingian Sources -- Christopher P. Flynn

Military Intelligence and Campaign Strategy in Salian Germany. The Campaigns of Henry IV, 1074–1080 -- David S. Bachrach

The Field of Blood, 28th June 1119. Anatomy of a Battle -- John France

*Las Siete Partidas* of Alfonso X “el Sabio.” Spain’s Leading Thirteenth-Century Law Code and (Incidentally) a Military Treatise Written in the Medieval West -- L. J. Andrew Villalon

The Red Cross of Crécy, 1346: Local Evidence for a Battle’s Location -- Michael Livingston

Address

125 Queen's Park, 3rd Floor
Toronto, ON
M5S2C7

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto:

Shortcuts

Share