The "Good," the "Bad," and the "Ugly" Ruler: Ideal Kingship in the Middle Ages

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Univ. of Florida; Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Organizer Name

Mildred Budny, Florin Curta

Organizer Affiliation

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, Univ. of Florida

Presider Name

Vlada Stankovic

Presider Affiliation

Univ. of Belgrade/Institute for Advanced Study

Paper Title 1

"Speech is Silver, Silence is Golden": Usurpers' Deeds and Historians' Verdicts in Merovingian and Carolingian Chronicles

Presenter 1 Name

Gerald Schwedler

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Historisches Seminar, Univ. Zürich

Paper Title 2

"One Man's Villain Is Another Man's Hero": Concepts Which Medieval Historians Employed to Construct the Images of Central European Princes as Good or Bad

Presenter 2 Name

Grischa Vercamer

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Freie Univ. Berlin

Paper Title 3

"Wise as Solomon / Cruel as Rehoboam": Ancient and Biblical Models for Portraying Good and Bad Rulers in Medieval Central Europe

Presenter 3 Name

Robert Antonín

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Ostravská Univ.

Paper Title 4

In Search of Rule Models in Saint Erkenwald and Lydgate's Saints Edmund and Fremund

Presenter 4 Name

Rebecca Huffman

Presenter 4 Affiliation

Univ. of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Start Date

16-5-2015 10:00 AM

Session Location

Schneider 1125

Description

Medieval kings came in many shapes and styles, ideal and less-than-ideal. This session examines the methods, models, terms, aspirations, and criticisms employed by medieval historians, chroniclers, and literary authors -- from Merovingian and Carolingian realms, through Central Europe, to late-medieval England -- to depict fitting role models for rulership, in theory and in practice. Sometimes their materials involve negative examples, which can call for special terms, exhortations, and ironies, both stated and understated.
-- Mildred Budny