Medieval People

Medieval Institute Publications at Western Michigan University publishes "Medieval People: Social Bonds, Kinship and Networks" (ISSN 2690-8182; eISSN 2690-8190), formerly published under the title "Medieval Prosopography: History and Collective Biography" (ISSN 0198-9405; eISSN 2381-8700).

Introduction

"Medieval People" builds upon what its precursor, "Medieval Prosopography," sought to do: it is dedicated to highlighting the experiences of unknown or obscure individuals or groups, as well as exploring the social networks that gave shape to the lives of all medieval people. The journal has been updated, however, to reflect the new trends in scholarship and the ever-growing number of tools available to scholars, as well as the rich offerings of digital humanities projects that can assist scholars in developing a deeper and more inclusive understanding of the medieval world. Therefore volume 35 of "Medieval Prosopography" is the last volume available in print, while volume 36, coming in early 2022, will be the first volume under the title "Medieval People" and the first online-only volume of the journal (articles can be printed by subscribers).

Taking Eileen Power’s classic book "Medieval People" as a touchstone, the inaugural volume of the journal will contain articles that correspond directly with the narratives in Power’s volume, such as Constance Bouchard’s updating of “The Peasant Bodo.” But the focus of the journal has also been updated and expanded to include articles on medieval people who were not included in the original work, including, for instance, Nicole Lopez-Jantzen’s examination of Lombard queens and Lucy Barnhouse’s discussion of the relationship of the sick and destitute with a German monastery. These articles align with the journal’s mission to promote the study of overlooked or understudied medieval people and groups.

To highlight how the study of the past has transformed and broadened, consideration of the tools that scholars can now employ to detect relationships not known heretofore, but also to recover the experiences of people whose stories would otherwise remain unretrievable, will also be included. Courtney Luckhardt, for example, uses social networking software to trace the relationships between pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.

Current issue: Volume 38, issue 1(2023)

Judges and the Creation of Sacred Space in Medieval Catalonia, 800–1100, by Adam C. Matthews

Antropónimos femeninos en pizarra: Mujeres y gestión de recursos en la Iberia tardoantigua, by Raquel Ezquerro Jiménez and Nerea Fernández Cadenas

"Honor and Charity are Brought Low": The Old French "Lament" for the Countess of Boulogne, by Kathy M. Krause

Bishop Godfrey of St. Asaph, by Richard Dace

Functions and Development of a Late Medieval Fraternity: The Parish Clerks' Guild of St. Nicholas, by Norman James

  • Editors and Editorial Board

    Editors

    • Amy Livingstone, University of Lincoln, UK
    • Charlotte Cartwright, Christopher Newport University
    • Jamie Wood, University of Lincoln, UK

    Executive board

    • Valerie L. Garver, Northern Illinois University
    • Jonathan R. Lyon, University of Chicago
    • Joel T. Rosenthal, State University of New York at Stony Brook
  • Submissions

    This journal explores the lives of medieval people of all ranks, periods and places in the medieval world and welcomes submissions that explore a single life, that highlight the important social bonds of an individual or group, or the study of social networks from late antiquity to the sixteenth century. If the editors believe the article is suitable for publication in the journal, it will be evaluated by experts in the field. Articles in the major European languages are invited and will be published in their original language. Please submit articles through the journal's ScholarWorks page, and contact the editors with any questions about submissions.

    General submission rules 

    Submitted articles cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic). Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to "Medieval People," the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at "Medieval People."

    Formatting requirements 

    Please submit articles with a minimum of formatting. Do not justify the right margin, or use varying type sizes or variable line space, or insert extra spaces around paragraphs. See Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines for further details. Additional necessary materials (e.g., tables, family trees, etc.) should also be submitted as Word files when possible.

  • Past Volumes

    The most recent volume of "Medieval Prosopography," Volume 37 (1), contained articles by Joel Rosenthal, Tracy Chapman Hamilton and Mariah Proctor-Tiffany, Mireille J. Pardon, Nathan Leidholm, Katherine Weikert, Emily J. Hutchison and Sara McDougall, Ralph V. Turner, Virginia Bainbridge and Gilbert Bogner.

    All past volumes of "Medieval Prosopography" are available on our ScholarWorks platform.

  • Prices and Subscription

    Subscriptions

    "Medieval People" is published annually in a digital format. Journal subscriptions and orders of individual issues, which can also be printed on demand, are handled by our distributor, ISD. Subscription pricing is as follows:

    • Student/retiree/independent scholar subscriptions are $25.
    • Individual subscriptions are $45.
    • Institution or library subscriptions are $95.
    • Our subscription order form can also be used to contact ISD for print-on-demand orders.