The Holy Lance Revisited

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Crusades in France and Occitania

Organizer Name

Thomas Lecaque

Organizer Affiliation

Grand View Univ.

Presider Name

Simon Parsons

Presider Affiliation

Royal Holloway, Univ. of London

Paper Title 1

The Holy Lance in Avignon: Provencal Roots for Raymond's Belief

Presenter 1 Name

Thomas Lecaque

Paper Title 2

The Holy Lance before It Was Discovered

Presenter 2 Name

Joshua Mugler

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Georgetown Univ.

Paper Title 3

Saint Andrew in Bruges: Flemish Commemoration of the Holy Lance

Presenter 3 Name

Bradley Phillis

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Univ. of Tennessee-Knoxville

Paper Title 4

The Man Behind the Lance: The Usage of the Figure Longinus in Crusading Texts

Presenter 4 Name

Douglass W. Hamilton

Presenter 4 Affiliation

Univ. of Toronto

Start Date

13-5-2018 10:30 AM

Session Location

Bernhard 209

Description

“The Holy Lance Revisited,” will aim to renew the discussion on the Holy Lance of Antioch, the pivotal moment of the First Crusade, using previously unstudied sources to argue that the discovery and belief in the relic was not as strange as has been seen—it was, in fact, deeply rooted not only in the religious identity of southern France, but in the material and religious culture of the Christian community in Antioch. Moreover, the legacy of the Holy Lance does not merely fizzle out after the fiery death of the priest Peter Bartholomew, but carries on--both in Flanders after the First Crusade, and in epic texts across the crusading period. This session will, at the least, show that the Holy Lance of Antioch, as an object and as a focal point of the First Crusade, had significantly more history, depth, and meaning that previously appreciated.

--Thomas Lecaque