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Featured Resource Pages

The following pages are highlighted as useful resources for educators.

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Jewish Life in the Middle Ages Special Series

Learn from world-renowned scholars about the daily lives and cultural traditions of Jewish people in the Middle Ages.

 

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Princeton University Library MAFE Series

Click here for resources featuring Princeton-based scholars and medieval items from the Princeton University Library.

  
    

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Use the filters below to search by century, era, geography, type of resource, and other topics of interest to students of the medieval past.

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Demons and Exorcism from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages

Demons and exorcism have been topics of discussion across many cultures and times. In Christianity’s first four centuries, exorcism became associated with marginalized or vulnerable people, providing many implications for cultural and political thinking. In this video, Dr. Jonathan Henry explains what people of the past thought about demons, the steps they took for managing problems attributed to demons, and most crucially, what all of this can tell us about people themselves. This knowledge offers a window for understanding human nature and the practical impact of abstract beliefs. 

The Life of Thecla and Gospel Thrillers

The Life of Thecla is the first English translation, with introduction and notes, of a fifth-century writing of a popular second-century noncanonical text (the Acts of Thecla), which tells the story of a young woman who leaves behind her life and family, and risks martyrdom twice, to follow the ascetic message of the apostle Paul. The Life gives readers insight into how this popular story was reimagined centuries later, at the lively shrine to St. Thecla. Gospel Thrillers explores conspiratorial fantasies about the Bible in U.S. cultures through dozens of modern novels that invent fantastic new gospel discoveries that plunge protagonists (and readers) into a world of danger and intrigue.

"Women Who Went Before" Podcast

A gynocentric podcast on the ancient world, Women Who Went Before shares quality scholarship on ancient women in a creative and accessible form. Organized in thematic seasons, each episode interviews one scholar about their work. Hosts Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley introduce the topic to listeners, frame an array of primary and secondary sources, and draw creative connections to modern concerns in episode introductions and conclusions. The majority of each episode presents the conversation with the guest expert. 

Scandal at Sainte-Croix

This video introduces a rebellion against the abbess of Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, Frankia in 590 described by Gregory of Tours. Factions of nuns debated who has the right to lead: women born to elite families or anyone from the community. Rebels protested mismanagement and corruption, and took violent action to draw attention to their grievances.

Fantastic Beasts in Medieval Christianity

This video focuses on how medieval Christians use mythical animals to tell their stories. It discusses how people of the Medieval world related to animals and why they would use beasts for symbolism. Beasts were used to represent the battle of good vs evil, as guides, and  allegorically. 
 

Fables and Foibles: Kalila and Dimna’s Lessons in Medieval Rulership

Kalila and Dimna is a book containing a collection of fables, translated into Arabic during the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century. The fables contain many animals as main characters as the stories explore various subjects, lessons, and morals. This video delves into specific fables, analyzing portrayals of good and bad rulers to understand medieval conceptions of effective leadership.

The Kammavācā: A Buddhist Ordination Manuscript from Myanmar

The Kammavācā is a highly ornamental book, made from cloth, clay, gold, and pigments and lacquered to a high shine. The one examined here is used in the Buddhist ordination ceremony for new monks entering the monastery within the Theravāda tradition in Myanmar. These two videos are part of the digital exhibit, "Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads."

 

A Qur'an from Harar, Ethiopia

This video examines the production and use of Qur’ans of the Swahili Coast, and an Ethiopian Qur’an from Harar. Long overlooked as peripheral to African manuscript culture, Islamic manuscript production of eastern Africa demonstrates deep transnational connections to trade and religious networks across the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Europe, and other regions of Africa." 

 

The Blue Qur'an

This video explores the beautiful "Blue Qur'an," one of the most recognizable examples of this sacred text. This video is part of the digital exhibit, "Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads."

 

Coins of Axum (medieval Africa) in the Princeton University Collection

In this video, Princeton Curator of Numismatics Alan Stahl introduces a new and growing collection of coins from the medieval African kingdom of Axum, in the area that is now Ethiopia.

A Document of Sale from Medieval Egypt

This video is a discussion of item 27 in Islamic Manuscripts, Garrett Additional Box no. 20 at the Princeton University Library. This document of sale was written in 980 CE on behalf of the Coptic Christian Yuhānnis ibn Suqayna and his wife Maria, residents of the small town in the Fayyum called Buljusuq. They were buying a house from Maria’s father, Ibn al-Ḥillī. The document was registered by the notary Shuʿayb ibn Zakariyā and witnessed by several Muslims, including Muḥammad ibn Ḥisān ibn Dāwud who made a noticeable typo while writing his testimony. 

Introduction to Zoroastrian Manuscripts
Video Primary Sources

Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. The Spirit of Zoroastrianism. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2011.

The Multimedia Yasna: https://muya-film.soas.hasdai.org/yasna/

Further Reading

Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs…

World Epics

This collaborative website is devoted to epics from across the globe, including epic narratives in theatrical dramatizations, puppetry arts, music, visual art, and film. It aims likewise to showcase websites and teaching resources developed by colleagues featuring both oral and literary epics, from the ancient world to today.

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