- Nathan Ristuccia teaches Latin at Rockbridge Academy in Maryland. In his research, Nathan concentrates on the intellectual and social history of the Latin West.edit
Christianization and Commonwealth in Early Medieval Europe re-examines the alterations in Western European life that followed widespread conversion to Christianity-the phenomena traditionally termed "Christianization". It refocuses... more
Christianization and Commonwealth in Early Medieval Europe re-examines the alterations in Western European life that followed widespread conversion to Christianity-the phenomena traditionally termed "Christianization". It refocuses scholarly paradigms for Christianization around the development of mandatory rituals. One prominent ritual, Rogationtide supplies an ideal case study demonstrating a new paradigm of "Christianization without religion." Christianization in the Middle Ages was not a slow process through which a Christian system of religious beliefs and practices replaced an earlier pagan system. In the Middle Ages, religion did not exist in the sense of a fixed system of belief bounded off from other spheres of life. Rather, Christianization was primarily ritual performance. Being a Christian meant joining a local church community.
After the fall of Rome, mandatory rituals such as Rogationtide arose to separate a Christian commonwealth from the pagans, heretics, and Jews outside it. A Latin West between the polis and the parish had its own institution-the Rogation procession-for organizing local communities. For medieval people, sectarian borders were often flexible and rituals served to demarcate these borders. Rogationtide is an ideal case study of this demarcation, because it was an emotionally powerful feast, which combined pageantry with doctrinal instruction, community formation, social ranking, devotional exercises, and bodily mortification. As a result, rival groups quarrelled over the holiday's meaning and procedure, sometimes violently, in order to reshape the local order and ban people and practices as non-Christian.
After the fall of Rome, mandatory rituals such as Rogationtide arose to separate a Christian commonwealth from the pagans, heretics, and Jews outside it. A Latin West between the polis and the parish had its own institution-the Rogation procession-for organizing local communities. For medieval people, sectarian borders were often flexible and rituals served to demarcate these borders. Rogationtide is an ideal case study of this demarcation, because it was an emotionally powerful feast, which combined pageantry with doctrinal instruction, community formation, social ranking, devotional exercises, and bodily mortification. As a result, rival groups quarrelled over the holiday's meaning and procedure, sometimes violently, in order to reshape the local order and ban people and practices as non-Christian.
Research Interests:
Historians debate whether the late antique historian Jordanes employed oral traditions in his history of the Goths: the Getica. Close examination of one narrative in the Getica demonstrates that Jordanes almost certainly knew an... more
Historians debate whether the late antique historian Jordanes employed oral traditions in his history of the Goths: the Getica. Close examination of one narrative in the Getica demonstrates that Jordanes almost certainly knew an etiological folktale related to the modern fairy tale type “The Frog King” (ATU 440). This folktale, however, was not of Gothic origins; it was a native East Roman legend. In context, this lost folklore was a miracle account, not a fairy tale. Jordanes’ legend shares motifs with other pagan, Jewish, and Christian stories from Late Antiquity, illustrating the common storytelling culture of the period.
Research Interests:
Historians of political thought have long praised John of Salisbury for his moderation and humanism. But John’s masterpiece, the Policraticus, also has a dark, pessimistic side; it is deeply concerned with the non-rational foundations of... more
Historians of political thought have long praised John of Salisbury for his moderation and humanism. But John’s masterpiece, the Policraticus, also has a dark, pessimistic side; it is deeply concerned with the non-rational foundations of political power. For John, the prince is, in the end, a public executioner, who binds the commonwealth together through ritual violence. John developed his concept of the prince as executioner out of a variety of classical and patristic sources. His vision may not be particularly moderate, but it is consistent with the larger political theology of the Policraticus.
Research Interests:
In 1563, the Swiss printer Johann Herwagen and the Flemish humanist Jacobus Pamelius published an eight-volume edition of the Venerable Bede. Their edition preserves a twenty-two sermon homiliary from a lost twelfth-century manuscript.... more
In 1563, the Swiss printer Johann Herwagen and the Flemish humanist Jacobus Pamelius published an eight-volume edition of the Venerable Bede. Their edition preserves a twenty-two sermon homiliary from a lost twelfth-century manuscript. As this paper demonstrates, seventeen of these Pseudo-Bede sermons are the work of a single anonymous medieval cleric who lived in Hesse or Thuringia during the third quarter of the eleventh century. The Herwagen preacher’s collection represents one of the most coherent series of sanctoral and penitential sermons surviving from this period. The homilist draws an array of sources, including the Virtutes apostolorum, the Visio Pauli, the Passio Polychronii, and the Judas Cyriacus legend. These sermons provide a unique picture of the spiritual life of one congregation in the Holy Roman Empire, just before the disruptions of the Gregorian reform.
Research Interests:
Between 1250 and 1350, in the aftermath of the Mongol conquests, Western travelers brought back new information on the Eastern religions of China, Tibet and India. By 1350, medieval views on religion were quite complex and nuanced; they... more
Between 1250 and 1350, in the aftermath of the Mongol conquests, Western travelers brought back new information on the Eastern religions of China, Tibet and India. By 1350, medieval views on religion were quite complex and nuanced; they did not just look at the East and group it all together as a vague “paganism.” This paper, then, examines what medieval authors thought they knew about Eastern religions in all their aspects (theological, ritual, institutional, material), and how these views relate to larger medieval ideas about the concept of religion itself. This paper will not seek either to determine the truthfulness of Western views of the East or to suggest what Eastern religious ideas or practices are being referenced. Instead, it will focus on the image of Eastern religions in the minds of Latin Christians.
Research Interests: High Middle Ages, Medieval History, Ritual, Missiology and Mission Theology, Indian Ocean History, and 13 moreSilk Road Studies, Medieval Church History, History of Missions, Yuan Dynasty, History of the Mongol Empire, History of Religion (Medieval Studies), Travel Literature, Mendicant Orders, Interreligious Dialogue, Sir John Mandeville, MARCO POLO, Ritual Practices, and Alexander Romance
Multiple scholars over the last two centuries have argued that Germanic pagans celebrated a solar festival in February, called the Spurcalia. While there is no consensus about the purpose of this festival (with everything from divination,... more
Multiple scholars over the last two centuries have argued that Germanic pagans celebrated a solar festival in February, called the Spurcalia. While there is no consensus about the purpose of this festival (with everything from divination, to the changing of the seasons, to ritual purification suggested), scholars agree that the Spurcalia was a major holiday, which died out only over the course of the early Middle Ages. A closer examination of the medieval sources, however, reveals that this festival never actually existed. Instead, the legend of this holiday arose through a series of misunderstandings on the part of medieval writers, which modern scholarship only compounded. The corrected history of spurcalia makes Germanic polytheism even more mysterious, but it also illustrates how medieval descriptions of paganism reflected clerical ideas about Christianization and the nature of religious worship.
Research Interests:
This article presents an edition and translation of a previously unpublished Rogationtide sermon, which survives in a manuscript from eleventh-century Salisbury (London, BL, Cotton Tiberius C.i). The article also comments on the... more
This article presents an edition and translation of a previously unpublished Rogationtide sermon, which survives in a manuscript from eleventh-century Salisbury (London, BL, Cotton Tiberius C.i). The article also comments on the relationship between this sermon and the wider tradition of Rogationtide literature, in order to highlight the Salisbury sermon's indebtedness to and departures from the main tradition of Rogationtide preaching.
Research Interests:
Because Peter Chrysologus preached at the capital of Ravenna during the reign of Valentinian III, his large corpus of extant sermons provides an intriguing look at ideas and attitudes widely known at the center of the empire. This study... more
Because Peter Chrysologus preached at the capital of Ravenna during the reign of Valentinian III, his large corpus of extant sermons provides an intriguing look at ideas and attitudes widely known at the center of the empire. This study will examine just one group of images common in these sermons: the language of law and documentation. The bishop demonstrates a surprisingly accurate knowledge of Roman law, and uses this knowledge to make his sermons understandable and relevant to his congregation. Chrysologus’ imagery can be read as a commentary and critique on imperial legal culture at the time of promulgation of the Theodosian Code
Research Interests:
Throughout the tenth century, the Anglo-Saxon educators portrayed a largely uniform theology of education on the role of corporal punishment. While whippings were seen as at times necessary, Anglo-Saxons appear to have viewed corporal... more
Throughout the tenth century, the Anglo-Saxon educators portrayed a largely uniform theology of education on the role of corporal punishment. While whippings were seen as at times necessary, Anglo-Saxons appear to have viewed corporal punishment (at least in theory) as a last resort. Anglo-Saxon authors described corporal punishment in terms of several biblical passages (most notably 2 Tim 4:2) and used God’s fatherhood as the primary example of correction.
Research Interests:
A number of Anglo-Saxon authors in both Old English and Latin demonstrate a strikingly unified conception of sacred space and ritual purification. By weaving together elements from sources as diverse as Roman paganism, Mosaic Law, and the... more
A number of Anglo-Saxon authors in both Old English and Latin demonstrate a strikingly unified conception of sacred space and ritual purification. By weaving together elements from sources as diverse as Roman paganism, Mosaic Law, and the rite of church dedication, these writers formulated an understanding of sacred space that had clear influence poetically. Much of the Anglo-Saxon conception of sacred space centers on the meaning of a particular Old English word (fælsian) and its relationship to a similar Latin term (lustrare). While neither of these words is common, they appear in a small number of important works in startling similar contexts. It is possible that this view of the Sacred also affected the actual process of Christianization, though this is more speculative.
Research Interests:
Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science” do not correspond to any fixed sphere of life in the pre-modern world. Because these terms are incommensurate and ideological, they... more
Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science” do not correspond to any fixed sphere of life in the pre-modern world. Because these terms are incommensurate and ideological, they misconstrue the past. I examine the influence and affinities of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy on Harrison's study in order to argue that Harrison's project approaches Wittgenstein's. Harrison's book is a therapeutic history, untying a knot in scholarly language. I encourage Harrison, however, to clarify how future scholars can progress in their study of phenomena once termed “scientific” or “religious” without succumbing to these same mistakes.
Research Interests:
A history of the 20th century told by ordinary Germans.
https://www.christiancentury.org/review/books/coming-age-during-rise-hitler
https://www.christiancentury.org/review/books/coming-age-during-rise-hitler
Research Interests:
Veneration of the Virgin is central to Catholic Christianity. But even those who recognize its importance often view miracle stories and other features of medieval Marian devotion as excesses. In “Mary and the Art of Prayer,” Rachel... more
Veneration of the Virgin is central to Catholic Christianity. But even those who recognize its importance often view miracle stories and other features of medieval Marian devotion as excesses. In “Mary and the Art of Prayer,” Rachel Fulton Brown argues that Marian devotion is apostolic, rather than a late, semi-pagan addition to Christianity.
Rachel Fulton Brown's response to the review and my reply to her response was published in the letters section of the August/September issue under the heading "Marian Controversies."
Rachel Fulton Brown's response to the review and my reply to her response was published in the letters section of the August/September issue under the heading "Marian Controversies."
Research Interests:
Roubekas examines a theory of religion put forward by Euhemerus of Messene, and shows not only how and why euhemerism came about but also how it was― and still is―used.
Research Interests:
A fresh, holistic vision of the Christian life that sees God at work in all created things, including vineyards, the work of vintners, and the beauty of well-crafted wine.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Buc connects the ancient past to the troubled present, showing how religious ideals of sacrifice and purification made violence meaningful throughout history.
Research Interests:
Furry shows how philosophy and theology inevitably affect the understandings and practice of historical writing, thereby making all history figural or allegorical.
Research Interests:
Nongbri shows that the idea of religion as a sphere of life distinct from politics, economics, or science is a recent development in European history.
Research Interests:
A collection of extensively annotated and translated documents illustrating the transformation of the crusade movement in the thirteenth century.
Research Interests:
A study of Alcuin's intellectual legacy intended for the general reader as well as for those teaching or researching the early medieval West.
Research Interests:
Wills uses the ancient baptistry in Milan to chronicle a pivotal chapter in the history of the Church and explore the mystery and meanings of the sacrament of baptism
Research Interests:
A biography of the great archbishop and theologian by one of the world's foremost experts on Anselm.
Research Interests:
Winn restores an undeservedly obscure fourth-century theologian to the more prominent place he is due
Research Interests:
A study of basic Christian instruction in the Latin West between 400 and 1000, focusing on the position that instruction had within larger liturgical seasons such as Lent and Rogationtide. This dissertation can be downloaded completely... more
A study of basic Christian instruction in the Latin West between 400 and 1000, focusing on the position that instruction had within larger liturgical seasons such as Lent and Rogationtide. This dissertation can be downloaded completely from ProQuest. I can also supply an electronic copy on request.
Research Interests:
French author Michel Houellebecq’s greatest fear is that contemporary secular Europe is the end of history. In Michel Houellebecq’s cautionary tale, democracy is a microwave dinner and religion is reasonableness.
Research Interests:
From "Evangelical" to "Christian": Nathan Ristuccia on why Princeton fellowship's name change sets a good precedent.
Research Interests:
This document supplies a table of incipits for two early collections of miracles of the Virgin in Latin poetry.
Research Interests:
This document supplies a table of feasts and incipits for the Bavarian Homiliary: a collection of sermons from mid-ninth-century Francia.