What's New In Medieval Studies VIII (Sept. 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. I also will have a designated Open Access section, 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.
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 38 books released in September 2026:
Eurasia/Global History
- Adolphson, Mikael S., The Disease of Money: Japan's Monetization in the Early Middle Ages (University of Hawai'i Press)
- Ball, Jennifer and Thelma K. Thomas, Byzantine Silk in the World (Arc Humanities Press)
- Hautala, Roman, Masters of the Earth: A History of the Golden Horde, 1219-1502 (Reaktion)
- Langer, Lawrence N., Rus' and Mongol Rule: Economy and Society, 1237-1462 (Cornell University Press)
- Lowe, Bryan D., How Buddhism Spread in Japan, 650-850 (University of Hawai'i Press) This looks really great
- Sheridan, Daniel, Sogdian Christians: Networks, Books, Homilies, and Medicine (Brepols)
Writing/Literature
- Abrahamson, Robert-Louis, Going through Hell: a Guide to Dante's Inferno for the Intrepid Traveler (Boydell and Brewer)
- Hines, Jessica, Forms of Suffering: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Chaucerian Piety (Cornell University Press)
- Nicosia, Giorgia, Excerpting History in the Syriac World: the Miaphysite Collections (6th-10th c.) (De Gruyter) Open Access
- Niskanen, Samu, Valentina Rovere, Andrea Antonio Verardi (eds), Writers Seeking Readers: Authorial Publication from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (Brepols)
- Poor, Sara S., The Literary Agency of Medieval Women: Kunigund Niklasin and the Library of St. Catherine's in Nuremberg (Oxford University Press)
- Rossetto, Giulia (ed.), Monastic Manuscripts from the Eastern Mediterranean (Sinai, Jerusalem, Antioch) (V&R unipress)
- Salih, Sarah and Tom White (eds), Mandeville's Travels: Race, Religion, Reception (D.S. Brewer)
- Stieldorf, Andrea, Frédéric Bauden, and Adam Kosto (eds), Documents and Chanceries between East and West (Böhlau)
- Walter, Katie (ed.), Walking in the Middle Ages: Literary Forms, Cultural Styles (Manchester University Press)
Religion/Philosophy
- Bay, Carson, Contesting Jewish History in Late Antique Christianity and Early Medieval Judaism: Flavius Josephus’ Jewish War between the Latin On the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Hebrew Book of Yosippon (Brill)
- Harvey, Steve, Niran Garshtein, and Giueseppe Veltri (eds), Studies and Texts in Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Science in Honor of Resianne Fontaine (Brill)
- Lizzi Testa, Rita (ed.), Holy Virgins and Blessed Rulers: Eastern and Western Perspectives (4th-6th Centuries) (Brepols)
- Mayerhofer, Kerstin, Imagining the Male Menstruating Jew in Medieval Christian Thought (Arc Humanities Press)
- Murat, Zuleika, Valentina Baradel, and Sara Carreño (eds), The Role of Senses in Medieval Liturgies, Rituals, and Devotional Practices (Brepols) Open Access
- Palmén, Ritva, Social Emotions in Premodern Philosophical Thought (Routledge)
- Rydstrøm-Poulsen, Aage, Love as the Divine Presence, from Augustine to Peter Lombard: the Theological Anthropology in the Early Western Culture (Routledge)
- Salmoiraghi, Davide, Hagiography and Episcopal Authority in Medieval Iceland: St Ambrose of Milan and the Militant Biskupa sögur (Brill)
Politics
- Brown, Michael H. (ed.), Earls and Earldoms in Medieval Scotland: from the Picts to c. 1500 (Boydell Press)
- Kügle, Karl (ed.), The Networked Court: Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Late Medieval European Court Cultures (Liverpool University Press)
- Licence, Tom, Harold: Warrior King (Yale University Press)
- Moss, Rachel E., Helen Roche, and Ricarda Meisl (eds), Political Nostalgias - Ancient and Medieval Worlds (Arc Humanities Press)
- Ó Súilleabháin, Niall, Social Elites in Medieval France: Status, Wealth and Power in the Loire Valey, c. 850-1150 (Manchester University Press)
- Salonen, Kirsi, Reima Välimäki, Teemu Immonen, Marika Räsänen, Anni Hella, Rome and the Great Western Schism, 1378-1417: the History and Aftermath of a Medieval Religious Conflict (York Medieval Press)
- Wells-Furby, Bridget, The Magnate Household in Medieval England: Lordship and Service, c. 1100-c.1400 (Boydell Press)
- Zaneri, Taylor, Producing the City-State: Production and Power in Medieval Lucca (Brepols)
Crusades/Byzantium
- Gaposchkin M. Cecilia, Andrew Jotischky, Thomas Madden and Jonathan Philips (eds), The Cambridge History of the Crusades, vols. 1 and 3 (Cambridge University Press)
- Rapp. Claudia (ed.), Power and People: Collective Agency in Byzantium (Harvard University Press)
- Smith, Thomas, The Fifth Crusade: a History of the Epic Campaign to Conquer Egypt (Yale University Press)
Other
- Binning, Ravinder S., The Medieval Art of Fear (University of Chicago Press)
- Carr-Riegel, Leslie, Anna Horeczy, Michael T Lo Piano, and Adam Zapała (eds), Connecting the Renaissance: Italy and East Central Europe (1300-1600) (Routledge)
- McDougall, Sara, Justice for Jehanne: the Tale of a Medieval Survivor (Princeton University Press)
- Su, Minjie (ed.), Medievalism in Japanese Manga: from Vikings to Samurai (D.S. Brewer)
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