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Dr Anke Holdenried

Senior Lecturer in Medieval History

Office: G.73, 13 Woodland Rd

Phone: 0117 928 9796

Email: a.holdenried@bristol.ac.uk

Consultation Hours

Research interests

I work on the cultural and intellectual history of the Middle Ages and am particularly interested in medieval prophetic traditions. My book The Sibyl and Her Scribes. Manuscripts and Interpretation of the Latin Sibylla Tiburtina c.1050-1500 (Ashgate, 2006) is specifically concerned with apocalyptic prophecy. Here I explore both medieval traditions and modern assumptions about how texts predicting the End of the World functioned in their historical context. Key to this study is the detailed examination of the surviving manuscripts of a specific text, a Last Emperor prophecy known as Sibylla Tiburtina which enjoyed great popularity in medieval Europe. My current research concerns 'prophetia' as a medieval concept and considers the diverse and changing contexts of prophecy, especially outside the debates of the later Middle Ages about gender or authority.

Research supervision

I would welcome supervising students who wish to work on any aspect of the cultural, intellectual and religious history of the central and later Middle Ages and/or on medieval manuscript culture. I would be particularly interested to hear from prospective research students with an interest in medieval prophets, mystics and visionaries. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss your research plans.

Undergraduate teaching

I offer the following undergraduate units:

• Expectations of the End (first year Special Topic)
• Prophecy and Society (second year Special Field)

Collaborative teaching is an integral part of Historical Studies at Bristol. I contribute to the following team-taught units:

• Introduction to Medieval History (first year Lecture Outline course)
• Reading and Writing History (first year Skills Unit)
• Rethinking History (second year Skills Unit)
• Researching History (third year Skills Unit)

In addition, I am co-ordinator for Group Projects (mandatory second year unit) in 2008/9.

Postgraduate teaching

I contribute to the Core Course teaching on the MA in Medieval & Early Modern History and also teach an Option Unit entitled The Apocalypse in Culture and Society, c.1050-1350. This Option reflects my continuing research interest both in medieval beliefs about the End of the World and in the use of manuscripts as a way into understanding the past.

Selected publications

• The Sibyl and Her Scribes. Manuscripts and Interpretation of the Latin Sibylla Tiburtina c. 1050–1500 (Aldershot: Ashgate [Church, Faith and Culture–Series] 2006)
• 'Aspects of the English Reception of the Sibylla Tiburtina: Prophecy and Devotion', in N. Morgan (ed.), Prophecy, Apocalypse and the Day of Doom [Harlaxton Medieval Studies 12, Proceedings of the Seventeenth Harlaxton Symposium July 2000] (Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2004), pp. 118-138
• 'The Bedan Recension of the Sibylla Tiburtina: New Manuscript Evidence and its Implications', in M. Herren (ed.), Latin Culture in the Eleventh Century [Publications of the Journal of Medieval Latin 5, vol. 2] (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002), pp. 410–443
• 'De oraculis gentilium (1673) and the Sibilla Erithea Babilonica. Pseudo-Joachimite Prophecy in a New Intelletual Context', in Julia Wannenmacher (ed.), The Influence of Inspiration – Joachim of Fiore in Past and Present. Essays in Memory of Majorie E. Reeves (Ashgate, forthcoming 2008)
• 'Observations on the Reception of Revelation c.1200-1700: Apocalyptic Prophecy as Refractory Lens', in Jorun Økland and John Lyons (eds), The Book of Revelation and Effective History [International Colloquium on the Reception History of the Book of Revelation, University of Bristol, 4-6 September 2006] (Sheffield Phoenix Press, forthcoming 2008)
• Codices Boethiani. A Conspectus of Manuscripts of the Works of Boethius, Vol. II: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, ed. Lesley Smith with the assistance of Theodore Christchev, Richard Gameson, Anke Holdenried, Fiona Robb, Teresa Webber and Joseph Ziegler [= Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 27] (London: Warburg Institute University of London; Turin: Nino Aragno Editore, 2001). I contributed the manuscript descriptions for Austria.

Full publications

Full list of Dr Holdenried's publications since 1990 as held in the University's IRIS publications database.