Noblesse Oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia (10th-14th Centuries)
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: History
Abstract
The story of the medieval barons is commonly a negative one. Because aristocracies have been almost universally eclipsed by centralised states in the modern world, they are often cast as regressive forces whose self-interest held back 'progress'. Nor is this exclusively a European narrative, though the historiographical attention paid to the 'rise of the State' has privileged the Latin Christian experience of political formation and shaped the way in which non-royal élites are seen in other historical contexts. As a result, 'private' rulers such as lords, amirs, kshatriya, and samurai are often assumed to have been at odds with the needs of the wider society.
This network seeks to challenge this understanding of the role of 'barons' in their relation to public good in two important and complementary ways. First, we intend to explore case studies of how these non-royal élites conceived and implemented responsible government, whether for themselves or for others. Second, we intend to compare these case studies in a bold transnational framework, reaching from western Europe to China, that spans the collapse of major centralised imperial projects in the ninth century to the destabilising experience of the Great Death in the fourteenth.
We will bring together international scholars in two online working groups, followed by two international workshops in order to discuss, debate, and disseminate interpretations of the 'public' role of the baron in an Afro-Eurasian Middle Ages. The two working groups and workshops will be organised into two major axes of research: 'Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context' and 'Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context' which will work separately before uniting in two multiple-day workshops to share their findings. The research developed through this collaboration will then be refined and presented to a wider audience at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds.
The legacy of this research will be preserved through the production of a collected volume of essays perfected over the course of the network's collaboration. The edited book will provide comparative and complementary case studies that will serve as a foundation for a new subdiscipline and a spur to further research. As such, it will be critical to both students and scholars approaching the medieval aristocracy, political history, and the 'Global Middle Ages'. An interactive website will showcase the research produced by the network's individual members, as all participants will produce blog posts and working papers suitable for a wide audience, in addition hosting teaching materials. Our outreach to the wider public will then be furthered through an article in a popular history magazine. Finally, through partnership with the Historical Association, we will organise webinars with secondary school teachers to help inform the presentation of medieval political and transnational history in the classroom.
This network seeks to challenge this understanding of the role of 'barons' in their relation to public good in two important and complementary ways. First, we intend to explore case studies of how these non-royal élites conceived and implemented responsible government, whether for themselves or for others. Second, we intend to compare these case studies in a bold transnational framework, reaching from western Europe to China, that spans the collapse of major centralised imperial projects in the ninth century to the destabilising experience of the Great Death in the fourteenth.
We will bring together international scholars in two online working groups, followed by two international workshops in order to discuss, debate, and disseminate interpretations of the 'public' role of the baron in an Afro-Eurasian Middle Ages. The two working groups and workshops will be organised into two major axes of research: 'Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context' and 'Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context' which will work separately before uniting in two multiple-day workshops to share their findings. The research developed through this collaboration will then be refined and presented to a wider audience at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds.
The legacy of this research will be preserved through the production of a collected volume of essays perfected over the course of the network's collaboration. The edited book will provide comparative and complementary case studies that will serve as a foundation for a new subdiscipline and a spur to further research. As such, it will be critical to both students and scholars approaching the medieval aristocracy, political history, and the 'Global Middle Ages'. An interactive website will showcase the research produced by the network's individual members, as all participants will produce blog posts and working papers suitable for a wide audience, in addition hosting teaching materials. Our outreach to the wider public will then be furthered through an article in a popular history magazine. Finally, through partnership with the Historical Association, we will organise webinars with secondary school teachers to help inform the presentation of medieval political and transnational history in the classroom.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Cambridge (Collaboration)
- University of British Columbia (Collaboration)
- Rutgers University (Collaboration)
- University of Pittsburgh (Collaboration)
- University of Oxford (Collaboration)
- Waseda University (Collaboration)
- KING'S COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- Lancaster University (Collaboration)
- University of California, Berkeley (Collaboration)
| Description | This project has made a number of crucial findings about intermediate élite power and the common good in the Global Middle Ages. Most obviously, it has demonstrated the challenge of discussing the role of non-sovereign power in this period across different geographical contexts. While acknowledging its Eurocentric baggage, 'barons' served as a starting shorthand for these actors, but this term quickly met challenges when applied to bureaucratic élites, nomadic chieftains, and other cultural expressions of subordinate but autonomous power. We have thus settled on 'intermediate élites' as a more useful and representative umbrella term for the political figures we studied. Across all the cultures explored by our network, these intermediate élites appealed to spiritual, philosophical, and practical justification for the independent power which they wielded. This often manifested as care for the earthly needs of the poor or common people, as in Middle Imperial China or under the brief baronial regime in thirteenth-century England. But these justifications were always contested: whose good was really at stake? Was it better for society, as Chinese imperial officials debated, to suppress the powerful and support the weak or to comfort the rich and relieve the poor? Was the government of the Rus' best represented by the Rus' themselves or their Mongol overlords? Is 'virtuous government' best directed at relief and disaster management, as it was conceived in Japan, or should it take into account wider, proactive environmental responsibilities, as negotiated (or not) by the various groups of the Ordos plateau in eastern China? North African tribal chieftains were often imagined as 'sheepdogs', but who constituted the flock they were defending, and who were the wolves? Not only did it prove impossible to arrive at an understanding of the 'common good' shared by all of our geographical case studies, but this concept was contested within the societies of the case studies themselves. Indeed, it is this dynamic tension, rather than a static consensus, that produced our sources' engagement with the problem and motivated political action on the part of intermediate élites. The role of confessional concerns in the construction of the 'common good' provided an important point of contrast. In Latin Christendom, intermediate élites, including rebels and crusaders, justified their power through evangelical precepts to care for the poor, though, from the eleventh century, these were closely allied to the persecution of those elements deemed threatening to the spiritual health of Christian society, such as Jews, usurers, and heretics. Thus the 'common good' was not simply a question of material needs, but also of ensuring the salvation of the people in the hereafter. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Islamic contexts, as repositories of Abramaic monotheism, demonstrate similar concerns. In Turkish Syria, the quality of a ruler was judged by the prosopographers by his adherence to Islam, including its concern for the poor, while in the Delhi Sultanate, the authority of the 'muluk' princes was expressed and justified by their subjection (in terms of enslavement) to God, though the diversity of India also spurred expressions of pluralistic protection of the subject population. On the other hand, in the eastern Roman empire, the emperor's monopoly on the status of God's representative on earth largely precluded independent engagement by intermediate élites with the 'common good'; outside of their own estates, such questions were above the pay grade of Byzantine nobles. Even further east, the Buddhist moral imperatives of compassion and almsgiving remained largely divorced from the concept of political virtue, which rested more securely on the connexion of the ruler with the divine. The absence of any easy commonalities across cultures is not a failure of our global approach, but rather its vindication, as it has allowed us to better understand the diversity of historical political and cultural approaches to common problems. The network has also started conversations between scholars studying a diverse geographical range of medieval polities; these will continue as we prepare the collected volume for publication and beyond. Through our 'associate members' initiative, we have made it possible for young and rising scholars (including PhD students) to participate in our project and provide blog material for the network website while simultaneously expanding the range and intensity of our geographical coverage. We have therefore sown seeds among the rising generation of historians for further exploration of intermediate élites, the common good, and political organisation and practice in a global medieval context. The network's conclusions are thus an important contribution to the emerging field of global medieval study, and our focus on specialism and particularity provides an example for how such work, focussed on a single theme, can be carried out without falling into the trap of 'flattening' the complexity of human experience. Moreover, our work has thrown up important questions that will need to be addressed not only by our project, but by future historians of the Global Middle Ages. Chief among these: how do we avoid the ruts of historiographical analysis and explanation that are carved by the uneven survival of sources in different regions (e.g. the large volume of surviving texts in Japan, China, and western Europe, as opposed to the paucity of the eastern Roman empire, medieval India, North Africa, and the Near East)? This disparity has frequently produced an imbalanced vision of sophisticated and complex societies where copious records survive, as opposed to 'blank spaces on the map' where they have not. The scale of this challenge was particularly apparent in our project, as our sub-Saharan Africa specialist, an early-career scholar, was unable to find long-term employment in academia and so had to withdraw from the project halfway through, depriving the network and our eventual publication of his comparative insight and highlighting the impact of these historiographical gaps on the structuring of research positions in the university sector. |
| Exploitation Route | The eventual publication of our collected volume will be of great value to historians of the Middle Ages, especially those interested in global comparative frameworks. For the first time, they will be able to see conceptions and implementations of political power below the royal level in conversation, which will allow for a greater appreciation of the role of intermediate élites themselves, as well as seeing how concentrated research specialisms can be combined to create a rigorous comparison of diverse political societies in the Middle Ages. This methodology could be expanded beyond the representative case studies we have studied, most especially in sub-Saharan Africa (see above). Our analysis can also serve as a platform for deeper comparative exploration of the question of the 'common good': to what extent is 'noblesse oblige' really the engine of élite concern, as opposed to more 'democratic' considerations of solidarity? Outside of academia, we communicated our work and findings to an audience of teachers through a series of training webinars hosted by the Historical Association. This outreach will allow our network to influence secondary education, challenging narratives of 'English exceptionalism' around landmarks such as Magna Carta. By sharing our conclusions with secondary school teachers, we hope that the teaching of medieval political history can better appreciate the role of intermediate élites in government as well as the alternative ways in which government has been formulated and justified outside of the Western teleology of the state. |
| Sectors | Education Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://noblesseoblige.exeter.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Department | Department of History |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | Lancaster University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | Rutgers University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | University of British Columbia |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | University of California, Berkeley |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | University of Pittsburgh |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Noblesse oblige? 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia Research Network |
| Organisation | Waseda University |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have organised two working groups (Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context; Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context) within our research network which bring together academics from a number of international institutions to discuss the themes of the network and collaboratively prepare their research outputs that will be presented in May 2023 and subsequently published. These groups have met twice each, first in September and then in December 2022. The PI and Co-I hosted these virtual meetings and created online sharepoints for the continued exchange of ideas outside of the working group meetings. As hosts, we guided discussion and prompted connexions between the two working groups while considering emerging themes for our own eventual synthesis of the project. In May 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a three-day conference in Oxford to bring the entire network together to present their findings and exchange ideas about the central questions of the project. The PI, with support from the Co-I, framed the discussion and chaired a final conversation around developments to the project arising from the conference's proceedings. At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2023, the PI and Co-I organised a round table of several network members to present the project and its progress to a wider audience. This stimulated further debate and raised the profile of the project in anticipation of a final presentation of findings at Leeds in 2024. In September 2023, the PI organised another online workshop for the network as a whole in order to discuss ideas and challenges raised at the May conference. This helped clarify and advance the work of the network as it enters its final stages. At the Medieval International Congress in July 2024 the whole research team (minus two members who had to withdraw) presented in a day's worth of linked sessions, which publicised the work of the project and communicated the findings to the wider community of medieval studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participants in the research network presented their developing ideas in the working groups and refined them based on conversations and emerging themes through a series of online workshops in 2022 in preparation for presentation at the conference in May 2023 and eventual publication. In May 2023, the entire network participated in a three-day conference in Oxford where preliminary findings were presented by all the members and discussed alongside general means of approaching the central questions of the research network. Conversations around methods of publication and future directions beyond the current grant were also held. A smaller group of network members participated in a round table at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2023, in which the general themes, challenges, and purposes of the network were presented to a wider audience. Finally, issues thrown up by the May conference were discussed after reflection in September 2023 in order to clarify our work going forward toward presentation of findings at Leeds 2024 and publication. At Leeds 2024, the network presented its findings, and nearly all members have since submitted the pieces for publication in a collected volume, which is now under consideration by Palgrave Macmillan for their 'New Middle Ages' series. |
| Impact | Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (September 2022) Barons and the Public Good in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Minority Élites and Government in a Transnational Context Working Group Meeting (December 2022) Noblesse oblige?: 'Barons' and the Public Good in Medieval Afro-Eurasia, 10th-14th Centuries Conference, Oxford (May 2023) Noblesse oblige? Round Table, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2023) Noblesse oblige? Network Online Workshop (September 2023) Noblesse oblige? Intermediate Élites in Medieval Afro-Eurasia strand of sessions, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (July 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Historical Association Teacher Training Webinars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | With the Historical Association, we organised a series of teacher-training webinars for secondary school teachers to allow the findings of the project to be integrated into the presentation of history to students. The sessions were attended live and recorded by the HA, so as to be available to participating teachers in future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.history.org.uk/secondary/categories/489/news/4330/webinar-series-medieval-political-idea... |