Medieval Matters is a new series of public lectures sponsored by Continuing Studies, The Program in Medieval Studies, and the Sarum Seminar. It will explore the relevance of medieval history and culture for understanding the modern world.
In this lecture, Patrick Geary will examine contemporary uses of the Middle Ages by various political movements, left and right, in Europe today. He will explore how modern-day Europeans proudly attempt to trace their national identities to medieval origins, linking them with such groups as the Celts, Franks, Gauls, Goths, Huns, Serbs, and others who inhabited, traversed, or pillaged the continent more than a thousand years ago. Geary will explain that, historically, such claims are often groundless. He will assert that the idea of national character being fixed throughout the medieval period is largely without basis in historical fact. Dismantling these nationalist myths about how the present nature of Europe was born, he will provide a more accurate account of Europe's transformation between the 4th and 9th centuries.
PATRICK GEARY
Professor of Medieval History, UCLA
Patrick Geary is one of America's leading and most prolific medieval scholars. He has published scores of articles and numerous books, including Phantoms of Remembrance, Living with the Dead in the Middle Ages, Furta Sacra, and The Myth of Nations, on which this lecture is based. He has served as director of UCLA's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and coauthored a six-part television series on medieval history.