Telephone number:	+31 (0)71 527 2755
E-Mail:	j.a.weston@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department:	Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Institute for Cultural Disciplines, Oude Britse letterkunde
Office Address:	Witte Singel-complex P.N. van Eyckhof 4 2311 BV Leiden Room number 2.05c

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Fields of interest

Mapping the cultural and intellectual shifts of the eleventh and twelfth centuries with a specific focus on the evolution of medieval readership.

Research

The period 1050-1250 is commonly described in historiography as an era of fundamental intellectual change and scholastic activity in Western Europe. This outlook manifests itself in the foundational work of David Knowles, who portrayed the period as the great ‘awakening’ of Europe (1962), as well as Charles Homer Haskins who classified it as a veritable renaissance (1927). Perhaps most notably, this period saw the flourishing of institutionalized education, with schools continuing to emerge in monasteries and cathedrals throughout Europe. By the turn of the thirteenth century, these schools would give rise to the world’s first universities at Bologna, Paris, and Oxford.

Within this vibrant scholastic atmosphere, the medieval book experienced a drastic physical makeover. Throughout Europe, scribes began to feature new reading aids in their works, many of which greatly enhanced the legibility and accessibility of the text. Scribes also began to organize the page more clearly, often adjusting the marginal layout to accommodate the later addition of glosses. Most historians agree that many of these physical innovations were motivated by the changing demands of readers, particularly those wishing to read more texts at a quicker rate.

While such textual novelties attest to some kind of evolution in readership during this period, it would seem brazen to assume that all readers and readership practices developed in the same manner and for the same reasons. Although new scholastic readers may have initiated certain changes in the physical format of the book, did all readers universally require such changes? This Ph.D. dissertation hypothesizes that the evolution of readership practice during the medieval period was not a universal process, but rather it was often a collection of localized developments fueled by disparate motivations. To test this hypothesis, this dissertation will examine the differing readership practices fostered by the three main educational institutions of the period: the monastic school, the cathedral school, and the early university.

This proposed dissertation is directly relevant to current studies in the field of physical book development during the twelfth-century renaissance, as it helps place such developments in their historical and cultural context. This study is also unique in its attempt to magnify and analyze the variable and contingent nature of readership evolution during the medieval period. If we understand why and how people read, interpreted, and produced texts over time, perhaps we will be able to better explain some of the broader intellectual trends, scholastic developments and textual innovations that lead to this period’s designation as the great ‘awakening’ of Europe.

Curriculum Vitae

• AIO for NWO-funded Vidi-project ‘Turning Over a New Leaf: Manuscript Innovation in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance,” (Directed by Dr. Erik Kwakkel), University of Leiden, 2010-
• Master of Arts Degree in Medieval History, University of York, United Kingdom, 2010
• Bachelors of Arts Honours Degree (with Distinction) in History and Latin, University of Victoria, Canada, 2009