What's New in Medieval Studies VI (July 2026)

Welcome back to my monthly installment of new releases in medieval studies. Medieval is being used very expansively here, so expect some books dealing with Late Rome or the Renaissance if they look particularly interesting. Now, I don't have the time or resources to read all of these books, so inclusion here doesn't mean it is guaranteed to be amazing. But I have largely tried to steer towards major academic presses (i.e. not popular histories). If you want my reasons for why you should read academic books even if you aren't an academic, you can find my piece here. I will offer some light editorializing but it is by no means comprehensive. If a book is available open access I have designated that, so even if you don't have access to an academic library you can still benefit. For each work I also provide the URL to the work, so you can purchase/download/whatever. Have a book coming out? Get in touch!

This list cannot be comprehensive, and I have occasionally omitted certain books such as source editions that are meant for more specialized audiences. This information was derived from the individual academic presses themselves, my own Bluesky feed, and pages such as "Medieval Updates" which share newly published works.

Before we get to the list, can I ask you to subscribe? Compiling this information takes time! Your support, either free or paid, lets me know that people appreciate this work.

Here are the 4 journals and 27 books released in July 2026:

Journals

• Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies 18, no. 2, available here.
• The Haskins Society Journal 35, available here.
• Medieval Worlds: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Studies 24, available here. Open Access. This volume looks great is themed on "Medieval Origin Myths in Eurasian Comparison."
• Speculum 101, no. 3, available here. Sidenote: if you are an MAA member you can access this journal.

Politics

• Bruce, Travis, Constructing the Medieval Maritime State: Identity, Violence, and Connection in the Mediterranean (Oxford University Press)
• Curta, Florin and Panos Sophoulis (eds), The Balkans in the Late Middle Ages, 1300-1500 (Routledge)
• Hasseler, Elizabeth, Royal Sanctity and the Making of History in High Medieval Scandinavia (York Medieval Press)
• MacLeod, Jason, Political Thought and Eleventh-Century Populism: the Meek, the Manky, and the Meritorious during the Age of the Gregorian Reform (Brepols)
• Woodacre, Elena, Lucinda H.S. Dean, Simon Lambe, and Patrik Patrnak (eds), Exploring Monarchy in Medieval Europe, 1000-1500 (Routledge)

Written Culture/Literature/Intellectual Thought

• Blanco Mourell, Noel, The Art of Knowing Everything: Ramon Llull's Medieval Learning Machines (University of Pennsylvania Press)
• Hailstone, Catherine-Rose, God, Demons, and Fear: Emotion, the Self, and Self-Control in Gregory of Tours (Edinburgh University Press)
• Ingrand-Varenne, Estelle and Clément Dussart (eds), Writing in the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem: Inscription and Graffiti in a Multilingual and Multigraphic Perspective (Brepols)
• Maraschi, Andrea, Word Eaters: Graphophagy in the Early and High Middle Ages (Brill)
• Yingst, Daniel, Visions of the Cosmos in Honorius Augustodunensis (Routledge)

Gender/Sexuality

• Cerda Costabal, José Manuel, Leonor of England: the Plantagenet Queen of Castile (Routledge)
• Hedenstierna-Jonson, Charlotte, Anne Irene Riisøy, Jakub Morawiec (eds), Viking Women: Between Theory, Text, and Materiality (Brepols)
• van Houts, Elisabeth, Empress Matilda: Queen of the Romans, Ruler of the English (Yale University Press)

Material Culture/Art

• Flanigan, Theresa and Trinita Kennedy (eds), Artistic Encounters in Trecento Italy (Brepols)
• Lavan, Luke and Peter Crawford (eds), Imperial and Royal Archaeologies of Late Antiquity (Brill)
• Owen-Crocker, Gale, The Design of the Bayeux Tapestry (Brill)

Culture

• Craig, Leigh Ann, Deprived of Sense and Intellect: Insanity, Possession, and Diagnosis in Medieval Europe (University of Michigan Press)
• Eisenberg, Merle, Lee Mordechai, and David Yoon (eds), Coins and Money in the Middle Ages: Studies in Honor of Alan Stahl (Brepols)
• Graizbord, David, Claude B. Stuczynski, and Hilda Nissimi (eds), Religious and Cultural Encounters in Medieval Sefarad and the Early Modern Iberian World: a Tribute to Moisés Orfali (Brill)
• Vukašinović, Milan, Subjects and Space in Roman and Serbian Lands: Ideology and Worldmaking in the Thirteenth Century (Edinburgh University Press)

Landscape/Architecture

• Kananovich, Uladzimir, Social Memory and Commemorative Landscapes in Medieval Europe's East (Arc Humanities Press)
• Sanmark, Alexandra, Mark A. Hall, Jane Geddes, and Oisín Plumb (eds), Royalty and Ritual: The Landscape of Power in Early Medieval Scotland and Europe (Sidestone Press) Read Online for Free
• Þorláksson, Helgi (ed.), Medieval Oddi in Iceland as a Place of Power and Learning: Clerics, Chieftains, and Textual Cultures (Brill)

Warfare/Violence

• Meško, Marek, Věra Klontza-Jaklová, and Barbora Ruffíni, The Byzantine Navy in the Era of the Komnenoi and the Crusades (1081–1180) (Arc Humanities Press)
• Villalon, L.J. Andrew and Donald J. Kagay (eds), "Kill Them All, God Will Know His Own": Clerical Violence and Violent Clerics in the Medieval World (Brill)

Non-European/Global Middle Ages

• Ditter, Alexei K. and Xiao Rao (eds), Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Middle Period China, 600-1300: a Critical Anthology (Routledge). Open Access
• Skaff, Jonathan, Silk Roads and Steppe Roads of Medieval China: History Unearthed from Tombs (Princeton)

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