On Wednesday 15th March, the University of Lincoln invited Prof. Stephan Church (University of East Anglia) to meet the undergraduate and postgraduate medieval studies community. Prof. Church lent his expertise on twelfth-century kinship to two modules: Chivalry in Medieval Europe (Level 3) and Public and Private Emotions (MA Medieval Studies).
Luke Brown, a third year undergraduate student, had this to say on Prof. Church’s visit.
“Prof. Church’s lecture in Chivalry in Medieval Europe was both enjoyable and enlightening. His focus, the topic of household knights, allowed the group to use the knowledge of previous lectures, such as the education of a knight, in a new way; a focus on the political circles of knights. His own research, kings and their household knights in the twelfth and thirteenth century England, provided a different perspective upon Medieval chivalry when compared to the Iberian and French sources we usually discuss. His guest lecture was an interesting insight into a different dynamic of European Chivalry.
Similarly, Prof. Church’s seminar provided an engaging discussion of the ideal household knight William Marshal. The knight and his textual “history” was the perfect example as he had a long career spanning the time of five different English kings. Prof. Church’s approach, which deployed modern day comparisons without being anachronistic, made the topic easily accessible.”
Prof. Church also joined our Public and Private Emotions seminar on Wednesday afternoon in which we focused on depictions of anger in medieval sources. It was great to have another voice in our discussions on medieval emotions and Prof. Church expertise on twelfth and thirteenth-century kingship complimented our understanding of ‘royal emotion’ which we had explored in a previous week.
Thank you, Prof. Church, for joining us!