Subject area

(Limoges, France, the home of Pelagia.) ‘Since the pressures of the world weighed heavily on a woman, not least on a widow, Erkanfrida needed to...

(James C. Scott, 1936–2024. Photo credit: Yale.) By James Burns Even if one accepts that the serf, the slave, and the untouchable will have trouble...

Slemish, in present-day County Antrim, where some think Patricius laboured as a slave Unlike most early medieval authors, who remain unknown to the broader public,...

Why did the Roman Empire fall? Little did I know, when I first encountered this question as an undergraduate, that it would propel me along...

By James Burns and Seth M. Stadel James: I have been reading Seth’s new book on Syriac exegesis, the abstract of which is below. When...

The Ratchis Altar, presented in an elevated position to reflect its original setting. Wikipedia Commons. An eighth-century altar, housed in the Museo Christiano & Tesoro...

The burial cave of rabbi Judah, Beit She’arim, Israel In a famous passage from the Talmud, which even got its own code in the Aarne-Thompson...

I have been reading Peter Sarris’ brilliant and highly accessible book on Justinian and was struck by the significance of a passing observation he makes...

The new article in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (copyright: Cambridge University Press). By James Burns I have published an article in Transactions of...

As an undergraduate student, I developed a strong interest in Eastern Christian studies after reading Norman Russell’s translation of The Lives of the Desert Fathers....