Vol 84, No 2 (2023)

During the 11th to the early 12th century the hagiography of Southern Gaul goes through a new stage of rewriting the vitae of the old local saints. New versions of Merovingian and Carolingian texts appear as extended elaborate revisions, rich in details absent from the earlier written record. The origin of saintly characters and the story of their arrival in Gaul is one of the foci of such amplifications effectuated by constructing new biographical details. Now and then an elaborated genealogical legend is created so as to promote the protagonist as saint and the community where the text is rewritten as the place of his cult. Along with claiming the apostolicity of the saint and accentuating their real or imaginary Roman origins, this period witnesses the surge of interest in the figure of a foreigner. In the context of the general quest for ancient authority figures, one can often see local saints and their ancestors depicted as characters of foreign descent. As a rule, such imaginary “foreigners” are envisioned as the bearers of the ancient Christian tradition (Jews, Greeks or Romans) and, only in the second turn, as actually strangers, individuals coming from another cultural milieu. The representation tends to be generalized in the extreme. It involves the exotic attributes of their otherness (unusual names, proximity to foreign rulers, distant place of birth) and the air of authority attached to the origins of those belonging to the nations which witnessed sacred history. Besides, the introduction of a foreigner’s figure may imply the amplification of a vita by a “story within story” narrating the epopee of foreigners on the move (Greeks, Jews and even Arabs) settling in Gaul. All that said, maximum authority and persuasive power of the text is not the only effect hagiographers seek by introducing figures of imaginary foreigners and their backstory. It also goes in line with the newfound orientation of hagiography written in Southern Gaul of this period towards the entertainment of its audiences.

The article is based on the research of insufficiently studied problem, linked with the Ale and Bread Assize’s breaking in everyday life of medieval English Manor. Assize of Bread and Ale (1266) was the first trade law, establishing production and trade rules, connected with ale and bread. Manorial court rolls testify that prescribed norms and rules weren’t upheld and were often broken by residents of а manor, including so-called ale-tasters. The latter were grass-roots representatives of manorial administration; they were responsible for compliance with certain norms and rules in a specified sphere. The article reveals the reasons, encouraging these persons to act in this way. It’s noted that manorial lords were rather loyal to this practice; so, ale-tasters were not strictly punished for violating the regulations; most often they were fined. It is linked in the article with the internal opposition of the lords, who had relied on manorial custom, to the legal regulations of the central government in the period of seigniorial jurisdiction’s infringement (Henry II’s, Henry III’s and Edward I’s legislation) – that is in the period of development and gradual prevalence of the Common Law of England.

The article presents the results of the first comprehensive study of the visits of Queen Elizabeth I of England to Catholic noble- and gentlemen and women throughout her reign (1558–1603). The study revealed a much higher number of royal visits to Catholics than it was previously thought. A prosopographic study of Elizabeth’s Catholic hosts has demonstrated that this group included conforming Catholics who belonged to court patronage networks, predominantly those of the royal favourites, Earls of Leicester and Essex, and the Cecils. Royal visits could have various outcomes, ranging from arrest to knighthood, and the decision of the Queen to travel to a county with a considerable Catholic population was always dictated by a combination of strong reasons of international and domestic politics. Entertainments for the Queen that were prepared by the Catholics were a way to carry out a dialogue between her and her Catholic subjects, and to integrate Catholics into the English political elite.

The recently published study by Olga Togoeva offers a new approach to the study of the phenomenon of demonology and witchcraft processes in Western Europe of the Middle Ages and Early Modern times. For the first time, the witch hunt is seen as a political phenomenon based on a especially secular concept of witchcraft. As a result, Olga Togoeva’s research not only reveals new facets of political culture, but also contributes to understanding the peculiarities of the process of building a monarchical state and its perception by contemporaries. The negative image of the royal court in treatises and mirrors as the “kingdom of the devil”, where “sorcerers and libertines rule”, reflects a radical change in the nature of the supreme secular power, from patrimonial to public law, where lawyers, jurists and administrators begin to occupy the first places at the throne to the detriment of the clergy, thus expressing his resentment. But the authorities themselves are beginning to actively use accusations of witchcraft and magical practices against their own political opponents. Finally, “inventing the enemy” and involving the broad masses of people in a “witch hunt” becomes an effective strategy in the hands of the authorities to maintain order and consolidate society.

The article deals with a short brief and participant’s personal experience of round-table discussion “To the Centenary of Yu.L. Bessmertny” (2 March, 2023). During the event (in reports and discussions), important issues were raised and discussed, which concerned both the biography and scientific creativity of Yu.L. Bessmertny, as well as research problems and topics that were part of scientific interests of the outstanding Soviet and Russian medievalist.

Richard III (1452–1485) is one of the most recognizable and controversial figures in English history. Interest in the new biography of this monarch is connected with the name of its author – one of the authoritative modern British historians, a specialist in the history of the Wars of the Roses, Michael Hicks. For him the biography of Richard III was largely the result of more than half a century of research. It is written using the entire array of sources available to date from this period and taking into account the research of all previous Anglo-American historians of Richard III.