New Books

Anne-Marie Carment-Lanfry, La Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Rouen (Pulications des Universités de Rouen et du Havre, 2010)

Claude Gauvard and Joël Laitier, Notre-Dame de Paris: cathédrale médiévale (Chene, 2010)

Medieval Wall Painting Uncovered at Llancarfan

Fifteenth century paintings showing Saint George and the Dragon and Death and the Gallant have been uncovered on the walls of the church of St. Cadoc in Llancarfan, Wales. The paintings, which date c.1480, have been hidden by limewash since the Reformation.
Wales Online

New Reviews

Speculum 85 (4)

Denys Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: a Corpus, 4: The Cities of Acre and Tyre, with Addenda and Corrigenda to Volumes I-III 112-114

Zoë Opačić, Prague and Bohemia: Medieval Art, Architecture, and Cultural Exchange in Central Europe 1055

Medieval Village Found?

Archaeology students in working in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales may have found evidence of the village of Whitelands, including a manor house and a mill, near the onetime natural harbor at Porthkerry. The village could have once been home to 60-70 residents, and likely lost its population as the harbor silted up in the 1300s.
BBC article

New Books

Angel Fernandez Collado, The Cathedral of Toledo (Cabildo Catedral Primada, 2009)

Maurizio Galletti, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore: Fede e spazio sacro (San Giorgio, 2010)

New Resource

The Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations provides an easy way to look at borders, settlements, ecclesiastical provinces, and all kinds of other interesting information related to spatial analysis of the Roman and medieval worlds. A team from Harvard completed the Mellon Foundation-funded project in May of this year.

New and Recent Books

Guy Beresford et.al., Caldecote: the Development and Desertion of a Hertfordshire Village (Leeds, Society for Medieval Archeology)

William Chester Jordan, A Tale of Two Monasteries: Westminster and Saint-Denis in the Thirteenth Century (Princeton University Press)

New Reviews

Speculum 85 (3)
Carolyn Marino Malone, Saint-Benigne de Dijon en l'an mil, "totius Gallae basilicis mirabilior": interprétation politique, liturgique, et théologique 709-711.

Alex Woodcock, Liminal Images: Aspects of Medieval Architectural Sculpture in the South of England from the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Centuries 753-755.

Remains of Medieval Church Found in Switzerland

In Moutier, Canton Bern, Switzerland, archeologists have found the wall and apse of a medieval church. The date of the ruins is currently unknown pending further research.

Preservation Project Completed at Sherwood Palace

A former palace of King John in Sherwood Forest has been secured and will reopen to the public. Three walls of the onetime hunting lodge remain above ground.

Preservation Project Completed at Sherwood Palace

A former palace of King John in Sherwood Forest has been secured and will reopen to the public. Three walls of the onetime hunting lodge remain above ground.

Castle Guédelon

The LA Times travel section covers the construction of a castle according to medieval methods in Burgundy.

Medieval Castle Unearthed in Denmark

The foundations of the late thirteenth century castle of King Erik Menved have been found on the Island of Samsø. Archaeologists from the National Museum initially did not realize that their find was part of a larger building. Excavation will continue at the site.
Story in the Copenhagen Post

Sketch of Medieval Saint Paul's for Sale

A Wenceslaus Hollar sketch of (pre-Great Fire) Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, will be auctioned by Sotheby's on July 6.
Link to article (includes photograph of sketch)

New Books

David Abulafia and Massimo Naro, Il Duomo di Monreale: Lo splendore dei mosaici. Itacalibri (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), 2009.
Alberta Campitelli, Gli Horti dei papi: I giardini vaticani dal Medioevo al Novecento. Jaca Book (Musei Vaticani), 2009.
Vincenzo Vaccaro, ed., La Chiesa di San Marco a Firenze: Una lunga stagione di restauri. Polistampa, 2009.
Ann Marie Yasin, Saints and Church Architecture in the Late Antique Mediterranean: Architecture, Cult, and Community. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Canterbury's Westgate Tower Museum to Remain Open

Businessman Charles Lambie has donated a quarter of a million pounds to the site, and has leased Westgate Tower from the city. Lambie hopes to increase the number of visitors to the medieval city gate by improving access and updating the facilities.
BBC link

Jenny Alexander (University of Warwick) on Masons' Marks

Link to Physorg.com article

New Reviews

Speculum 85 (2)

James R. Lindow, The Renaissance Palace in Florence: Magnificence and Splendour in Fifteenth-Century Italy 424.
Alick M. McLean, Prato: Architecture, Piety, and Political Identity in a Tuscan City-State 435.
Matthew M. Reeve, ed., Reading Gothic Architecture 495 (brief notice).

Medieval Hall in Galway open to the Public

A hall built by Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (1259-1326), has opened to the public for the first time. The hall, adjoining castle, and surrounding area have been the subject of archaeological excavations since their discovery under the Custom House (then under restoration) in the 1990s.
Story in the Irish Times

Upcoming Conferences

Medieval Academy Annual Meeting, April 14-16 2011
- accepting submissions until May 15, 2010


Fourth International Colloquium Compostela, October 12-15, 2010
Theme: Pilgrimages and Pilgrims as Peacemakers
- accepting submissions until July 15

Ozark Medieval Fortress

There's a castle being built in Arkansas. The Ozark Medieval Fortress, due to open this spring, is being constructed using medieval techniques. The project is spearheaded by Michel Guyot, owner and restorer of the Château de Saint-Fargeau in Burgundy, with French and American investors, consultants, and labor. The idea is that this new castle will be constructed using medieval materials, plans, and technology, and in roughly the same amount of time required for a comparative medieval project. Visitors can observe the process as the building goes up.
Ozark Medieval Fortress

Conservation Project for a Deserted Medieval Settlement Receives Funds

Several structures (the chapel of Saint Lawrence, a dovecote, and a bridge) outside of Barforth (near Darlington, Co Durham), part of an abandoned medieval village, are slated for conservation work in the upcoming months. The three structures are currently on the "Heritage at Risk" register maintained by English Heritage.
Link to Peterborough Today article

Kalamazoo Programs Are Here

For those attending the International Congress on Medieval Studies this year, sessions of interest for architectural historians include:
Session 55 (Thursday 10:00): "Feminist Approaches to Medieval Art: Islam, Byzantium, and the West"
Session 130 (Thursday 3:30): "The Year 1200"
Session 183 (Thursday 7:30): "Capetians II: Capetians and Saint-Denis"
Session 188 (Thursday 7:30): "Sculpture and the Medieval City"
Session 210 (Friday 10:00): "Medieval Architecture and Glass in Memory of Anne Prache I"
Session 250 (Friday 10:00): "New Directions in European Castle Research"
Session 269 (Friday 1:30): "The Crusades II"
Session 270 (Friday 1:30): "Cistercians in France and Flanders"
Session 271 (Friday 1:30): "Medieval Architecture and Glass in Memory of Anne Prache II"
Session 313 (Friday 1:30): "Burial ad Sanctos in the Early Middle Ages: Architecture as Stagecraft"
Session 338 (Friday 3:30): "Medieval Architecture and Glass in Memory of Anne Prache III"
Session 345 (Friday 3:30): "European Monasticism During and After the Gregorian Reform"
Session 346 (Friday 3:30): "The Archeology of Early Modern Europe II: Early Medieval Hillforts in Central Europe: Strongholds or Central Places?"
Session 377 (Friday 3:30): "Galicia and Santiago between the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries: Material Culture and Pilgrimage in a Period of Transition"
Session 475 (Saturday 1:30): "Painted Architecture and Sculpture: General Problems and Issues"
Session 560 (Sunday 8:30): "York Minster: a Cathedral in Context"
Session 593 (Sunday 10:00): "Thinking Small: Scale and Meaning in Medieval Art II"

New Books

Recent releases in areas of interest:

Glyn Copack, Abbeys and Priories (Amberley)

Glyn Coppack, Fountains Abbey (Amberley)

John Julius Norwich et. al., Croatia: Aspects of Art, Architecture, and Cultural Heritage (Frances Lincoln)

David W. Phillipson, Ancient Churches of Ethiopia: Fourth-Fourteenth Centuries (Yale University Press)

Cordelia Watt and Janis Elliott, eds., Art and Architecture in Naples, 1266-1713: New Approaches (Wiley-Blackwell)

In more castle news...

Part of Rochester Castle's outer bailey has collapsed due to rainfall.
BBC Report

New Discoveries at Prague Castle

Ongoing excavation at Prague Castle has led to the discovery of more evidence about the early state of the castle's defenses. Archaeologists working in an area between the castle's second and third courtyards have uncovered part of the castle's original moat and a tenth or eleventh century rampart; these new finds complement what was previously known about the castle's early fortifications.
Link to story in Prague Monitor

Warwick's Eastgate for Sale

Who wants to buy a medieval town gate? Warwick's Eastgate will be on the block April 14; the estimated price is £125,000. Locals wonder if the gate, which includes a room accessed via a single stairway below its clock tower and was previously rented to a local school, will attract a buyer given its hefty repair estimate and lack of access for disabled visitors. English Heritage has designated the gate as a Grade-II Listed Building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. These kinds of sales always highlight the ways in which issues of preservation and regulation intersect with contemporary needs and private ownership.
Leamington Spa Courier article
Eastgate on Google Maps

AVISTA Forum Journal

The latest volume has numerous items of interest to historians of medieval architecture.

Hiscock, Nigel. "Patronal Programming in Medieval Abbeys and Cathedrals: the Question of Symbolism." AVISTA Forum Journal 19 (2009) 5-20.

The following are texts of papers presented in the sessions entitled "New Directions in Medieval Architecture" at the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo in 2009:
Camerlenghi, Nicola. "The Longue Durée and the Life of Buildings." AVISTA Forum Journal 19 (2009) 83-84.
Tallon, Andrew J. "Rethinking Medieval Structure." AVISTA Forum Journal 19 (2009) 85-86.
Reilly, Lisa. The Medieval Design Process at Southwell Minster." AVISTA Forum Journal 19 (2009) 87-89.
Bork, Robert. "Connecting the dots: Toward Geometrical Connoisseurship." AVISTA Forum Journal 19 (2009) 90-92.
McGehee, Abby. The Hand of the Master: Architects and Entrepreneurs in Late Gothic Paris." AVISTA Forum Journal 19 (2009) 93-95.
Davis, Michael T. "Old Questions, New Technologies, Different Voices: Finding Directions for the Study of Medieval Architecture." AVISTA Forum Journal 19 (2009) 95-96.

Additionally, this volume includes summaries of papers delivered at Kalamazoo on topics including medieval urbanism, mapping, castle imagery, and portal design and iconography.

New article on models

Isnard, Isabelle. "Un cas d'utilisation de modèle architectural vers
1300 en Champagne: l'exemple des collégiales Saint-Urbain de Troyes et
Saint-Pierre-aux-Liens de Mussy-sur-Seine." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschicte 73 (1) 2010: 19-40.

Parisian Gothic Show Opening Soon at the Musée de Cluny

Paris, Ville rayonnant, an exposition devoted to the architecture of thirteenth-century Paris, will open February 10 at the Musée National du Moyen Âge in Paris. The show will include material and displays relating to five key buildings of the era: the Sainte-Chapelle, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Notre-Dame, the chapel of the Virgin at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and the refectory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. Hopefully there will be an associated book?
Introduction on the Cluny website

Excavations at Edinburgh Castle

Archaeologists have discovered part of the late medieval boundary wall and a sixteenth-century defensive spur, structures that were previously known only from early drawings of the castle.
BBC article

Monks Abbey Ruins Closed

The ruins of the former Benedictine priory of Saint Mary Magdalen in Lincoln (locally known as Monks Abbey), founded by Saint Mary's Abbey in York, have been closed to the public due to ongoing problems with vandalism. A permanent two meter fence will be installed.

The priory ruins include three walls of the chancel, likely begun in the late twelfth century; the windows date from a later period and have surviving perpendicular tracery.