Early Books Lecture Series XVIII: Fit for a Crusader King with Laura Hollengreen

The Early Books Lecture Series XVIII was established at the University of Arizona by Dr. Albrecht Classen, University Distinguished Professor of German Studies. For nearly 20 years, University of Arizona scholars have invited the community to explore rare books held by Special Collections, a department of the University Libraries that provides primary resource materials for research and is open to students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

The lectures are free and open to the public. This year's series is available in person and on Zoom. 

Tuesday, April 11, 2023
4-6pm (AZ)
Professor Laura Hollengreen, College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture
Fit for a Crusader King:  The Thirteenth-Century Morgan Picture Book

The mid-thirteenth-century Gothic large format manuscript known as the Morgan Old Testament Picture Book or Morgan Bible, after the Morgan Library which holds all but a few of the extant folios, is famous for its likely patron (King Louis IX of France), its lavish biblical picture cycles and original lack of text, and its later history as a diplomatic gift with owners who included Shah Abbas I of Persia.  It was during that later history that the book acquired inscriptions in Latin, Persian, Arabic, Judeo-Persian, and Hebrew that described the images for those who needed a little assistance.  This lecture will present the courtly and Crusader aspects of the imagery that together argued for the Franks as the “most Christian people,” worthy heirs to biblical history.

About the presenter
Dr. Laura Hollengreen, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.

Trained as a medievalist art historian at UC Berkeley, she continues to engage in scholarship on medieval art while engaged in teaching architectural history and contemporary theory to budding architects.  Her current research, in collaboration with a digital media scholar in Sweden, explores liminal environments from the Middle Ages to the present.

Series lectures

Tuesday, April 4
4-6pm (AZ)
Professor Albrecht Classen, Department of German Studies 
Myths about the Middle Ages: Medieval Engineering, War Technology, and Manuscript Illuminations in the Case of Conrad Kyeser’s Bellifortis 

Classen addresses the question: What do we really know about the Middle Ages and its technological accomplishments? Register for the lecture.

Tuesday, April 18
4-6pm
Professor Jiang Wu, Department of East Asian Studies, College of Humanities
The Japanese Ōbaku Canon 黃檗藏 and Modern Buddhist Canon Compilations in East Asia

Wu investigates the history of the Ōbaku Canon in China and Japan and evaluates its role in reinventing the Buddhist textual tradition in the modern era. Register for the lecture.

Disability-related accommodations
Questions or requests regarding disability-related accommodations should be directed to Lori Strazza Brown, strazzal@arizona.edu.

Location & visitor parking
Each lecture will be held at the Main Library, Rooms A313/314, on the 3rd floor. A short reception will follow the program. 

University Libraries Main Library is located at 1510 E. University Blvd. on the southwest corner of University Blvd. / Cherry Ave. View the map. 

Visitor parking is available at the Cherry Garage located just east of the Main Library. See parking garage rates.