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Professor Giles Gasper's Outputs (70)

“In the shape of a cooking pot over the fire”: Records of solar prominences in the 1180s (2023)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. E., & Tanner, B. K. (2023). “In the shape of a cooking pot over the fire”: Records of solar prominences in the 1180s. Endeavour, 47(3), Article 100875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2023.100875

The second half of the 1180s witnessed an unusual number of solar eclipses visible within Europe in quick succession. These were recorded or referenced in a wide range of sources, from chronicles in Latin and Old Church Slavonic to the earliest epic... Read More about “In the shape of a cooking pot over the fire”: Records of solar prominences in the 1180s.

A cooking pot lit by fire (2023)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. E. M., & Tanner, B. K. (2023). A cooking pot lit by fire. Astronomy and Geophysics, 64(1), 1.36-1.37. https://doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/atac091

Recent research into the records of eclipses in the Chronicle of the English monk, Gervase of Canterbury, has indicated that an entry for the year 1187 C.E. may contain a description of solar prominences being visible during the total eclipse of that... Read More about A cooking pot lit by fire.

Professor Sir Richard W. Southern (1912-2001) (2022)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2022). Professor Sir Richard W. Southern (1912-2001). In S. Niskanen, & J. Willoughby (Eds.), Routledge Medieval Encyclopedia Online. Routledge

Sir Richard Southern is famous for his biographies of St Anselm of Canterbury and Robert Grosseteste, for his long meditation on medieval universities, humanism, and scholasticism, his early and still influential The Making of the Middle Ages, a surv... Read More about Professor Sir Richard W. Southern (1912-2001).

Damascien (Johannes Damascenus). (2022)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2023). Damascien (Johannes Damascenus). In R. Newhauser, V. Gillespie, J. Rosenfeld, & K. Walter (Eds.), The Chaucer Encyclopedia. Wiley

A Marvellous Sign and A Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning (2022)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. E., & Tanner, B. K. (2022). A Marvellous Sign and A Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning. Weather, 77(7), 232-234. https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.4144

We describe an entry in a twelfth century monastic chronicle, compiled and composed by Gervase of Canterbury (c. 1145–c. 1210), which gives a credible description of ball lightning. It predates the earliest known report of the phenomenon from England... Read More about A Marvellous Sign and A Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning.

Introduction (2021)
Book Chapter
Healy-Varley, M., Gasper, G. E., & Younge, G. (2021). Introduction. In M. Healy-Varley, G. E. Gasper, & G. Younge (Eds.), Anselm of Canterbury: Communities, Contemporaries and Criticism (1-9). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004468238_002

Magnifying Grains of Sand, Seeds, and Blades of Grass: Optical Effects in Robert Grosseteste’s De iride (On the Rainbow) (circa 1228–1230) (2021)
Journal Article
White, R. C., Gasper, G. E., McLeish, T. C., Tanner, B. K., Harvey, J. S., Sønnesyn, S. O., …Smithson, H. E. (2021). Magnifying Grains of Sand, Seeds, and Blades of Grass: Optical Effects in Robert Grosseteste’s De iride (On the Rainbow) (circa 1228–1230). Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society, 112(1), 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1086/713724

In his treatise On the Rainbow (De iride), composed nearly four hundred years before the first known telescope, the English polymath Robert Grosseteste identified three striking optical effects: distant objects can be rendered close by; close-by larg... Read More about Magnifying Grains of Sand, Seeds, and Blades of Grass: Optical Effects in Robert Grosseteste’s De iride (On the Rainbow) (circa 1228–1230).

‘The Moon Quivered Like a Snake’: A Medieval Chronicler, Lunar Explosions, and a Puzzle for Modern Interpretation (2020)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. E., & Tanner, B. K. (2020). ‘The Moon Quivered Like a Snake’: A Medieval Chronicler, Lunar Explosions, and a Puzzle for Modern Interpretation. Endeavour, 44(4), Article 100750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2021.100750

Despite some scepticism, the suggestion by Hartung in 1976 that the report in the chronicle of Gervase of Canterbury corresponded to a meteorite impact with the moon in 1178, creating the Giordano Bruno crater, retains considerable support, particula... Read More about ‘The Moon Quivered Like a Snake’: A Medieval Chronicler, Lunar Explosions, and a Puzzle for Modern Interpretation.

Bernard of Clairvaux, Material and Spiritual Order, and the Economy of Salvation (2019)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. E. (2019). Bernard of Clairvaux, Material and Spiritual Order, and the Economy of Salvation. Journal of Medieval History, 45(5), 580-596. https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2019.1658617

This article explores themes connected to the spiritual and the material, especially in connection with order and economy, in the thought of the Cistercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090/1–1153). It argues that these themes are particularly useful... Read More about Bernard of Clairvaux, Material and Spiritual Order, and the Economy of Salvation.

Anselm of Canterbury: Theology of Salvation (2017)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2017). Anselm of Canterbury: Theology of Salvation. In J. S. Holcomb (Ed.), Christian Theologies of Salvation: A Comparative Introduction (124-142). New York University Press

Producing Christian Culture: Medieval Exegesis and Its Interpretative Genres (2017)
Book
Gasper, G. E., Watson, F., & Crawford, M. (Eds.). (2017). Producing Christian Culture: Medieval Exegesis and Its Interpretative Genres. Routledge

Producing Christian Culture takes as its thread the 'interpretative genres' within which medieval people engaged with the Bible. Contributors to the volume present specific material as a case study illustrative of a specific genre, whether devotional... Read More about Producing Christian Culture: Medieval Exegesis and Its Interpretative Genres.

Bow-shaped Caustics from Conical Prisms: a 13th Century Account of Rainbow Formation from Robert Grosseteste’s De iride (2017)
Journal Article
Harvey, J., Smithson, H., Siviour, C., Gasper, G. E., Sonnesyn, S. O., Tanner, B. K., & McLeish, T. (2017). Bow-shaped Caustics from Conical Prisms: a 13th Century Account of Rainbow Formation from Robert Grosseteste’s De iride. Applied Optics, 56(19), G197-G204. https://doi.org/10.1364/ao.56.00g197

The rainbow has been the subject of discussion across a variety of historical periods and cultures, and numerous optical explanations have been suggested. Here, we further explore the scientific treatise De iride [On the Rainbow] written by Robert Gr... Read More about Bow-shaped Caustics from Conical Prisms: a 13th Century Account of Rainbow Formation from Robert Grosseteste’s De iride.

Salsamenta pictavensium: Gastronomy and Medicine in Twelfth-Century England (2016)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. E., & Wallis, F. (2016). Salsamenta pictavensium: Gastronomy and Medicine in Twelfth-Century England. The English Historical Review, 131(553), 1353-1385. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cex013

This article presents a collection of culinary recipes from a manuscript produced in England from the later twelfth century. The suite of ten recipes for ‘Poitou sauces’ or ‘Poitou relishes’ (salsamenta pictavensium—literally ‘of the Poitevins’) to g... Read More about Salsamenta pictavensium: Gastronomy and Medicine in Twelfth-Century England.

Listening Between the Lines: Medieval and Modern Science (2016)
Journal Article
Gasper, G., McLeish, T. C., & Smithson, H. E. (2016). Listening Between the Lines: Medieval and Modern Science. Palgrave communications, 2, Article 16062. https://doi.org/10.1057/palcomms.2016.62

In this article the investigators of the Ordered Universe project will reflect on how a diverse range of disciplinary perspectives essential for effective research into medieval science have been identified, acknowledged and absorbed into a genuinely... Read More about Listening Between the Lines: Medieval and Modern Science.

The Fulfillment of Science: Nature, Creation and Man in the Hexaemeron of Robert Grosseteste (2016)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2016). The Fulfillment of Science: Nature, Creation and Man in the Hexaemeron of Robert Grosseteste. In J. P. Cunningham, & M. Hocknull (Eds.), Robert Grosseteste and the pursuit of religious and scientific learning in the Middle-Ages (221-242). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33468-4_12

Robert Grosseteste’s commentary on the six days of creation, the Hexaemeron, is one of his most extensive and detailed theological works. Composed during his time as bishop of Lincoln, it draws on earlier lectures, notably those on Genesis, and his s... Read More about The Fulfillment of Science: Nature, Creation and Man in the Hexaemeron of Robert Grosseteste.

Contemplating Money and Wealth in Monastic Writing c.1060-c.1160 (2015)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2015). Contemplating Money and Wealth in Monastic Writing c.1060-c.1160. In G. E. Gasper, & S. H. Gullbekk (Eds.), Money and the church in medieval Europe, 1000-1200 : practice, morality and thought (39-76). Ashgate Publishing

Money and the Church in Medieval Europe, 1000-1200 (2015)
Book
Gasper, G. E., & Gullbekk, S. H. (Eds.). (2015). Money and the Church in Medieval Europe, 1000-1200. Ashgate Publishing

Bringing together essays from experts in a variety of disciplines, this collection explores two of the most important facets of life within the medieval Europe: money and the church. By focusing on the interactions between these subjects, the volume... Read More about Money and the Church in Medieval Europe, 1000-1200.

Money and the Church: Definitions, Disciplines and Directions (2015)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2015). Money and the Church: Definitions, Disciplines and Directions. In G. E. Gasper, & S. H. Gullbekk (Eds.), Money and the church in medieval Europe, 1000-1200 : practice, morality and thought (3-16). Ashgate Publishing

Introduction (2014)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E., & McKinnell, J. S. (2014). Introduction. In G. E. Gasper, & J. S. McKinnell (Eds.), Ambition and anxiety : courts and courtly discourse, c. 700-1600 (1-16). Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, [Durham, England]: Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Durham University

All the colours of the rainbow (2014)
Journal Article
Smithson, H. E., Gasper, G. E., & McLeish, T. C. (2014). All the colours of the rainbow. Nature Physics, 10(8), 540-542. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3052

Our perception of colour has always been a source of fascination, so it's little wonder that studies of the phenomenon date back hundreds of years. What, though, can modern scientists learn from medieval literature — and how do we go about it?

A medieval multiverse?: Mathematical modelling of the thirteenth century universe of Robert Grosseteste (2014)
Journal Article
Bower, R., McLeish, T., Tanner, B., Smithson, H., Panti, C., Lewis, N., & Gasper, G. (2014). A medieval multiverse?: Mathematical modelling of the thirteenth century universe of Robert Grosseteste. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 470(2167), Article 40025. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2014.0025

In his treatise on light, written about 1225, Robert Grosseteste describes a cosmological model in which the universe is created in a big-bang-like explosion and subsequent condensation. He postulates that the fundamental coupling of light and matter... Read More about A medieval multiverse?: Mathematical modelling of the thirteenth century universe of Robert Grosseteste.

Color-coordinate system from a 13th-century account of rainbows (2014)
Journal Article
Smithson, H., Anderson, P., Dinkova-Bruun, G., Gasper, G., Laven, P., McLeish, T., …Tanner, B. (2014). Color-coordinate system from a 13th-century account of rainbows. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 31(4), A341-A349. https://doi.org/10.1364/josaa.31.00a341

We present a new analysis of Robert Grosseteste’s account of color in his treatise De iride (On the Rainbow), dating from the early 13th century. The work explores color within the 3D framework set out in Grosseteste’s De colore [see J. Opt. Soc. Am.... Read More about Color-coordinate system from a 13th-century account of rainbows.

The Beauty of Creation (2014)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2014). The Beauty of Creation. In G. Cipollone, & M. Boari (Eds.), Anselmo e la ‘nuova’ Europa (41-56). Gregorian and Biblical Press

Anselm: A Portrait in Refraction (2012)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E., & Logan, I. (2012). Anselm: A Portrait in Refraction. In Saint Anselm of Canterbury and His Legacy (1-25)

Money and its use in the thought and experience of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (1093–1109) (2012)
Journal Article
Gasper, G., & Gullbekk, S. (2012). Money and its use in the thought and experience of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (1093–1109). Journal of Medieval History, 38(2), 155-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2012.676435

This article explores aspects of a broader question: what money meant to the inhabitants of north-western Europe in the late eleventh and early twelfth century, evidence for its use, and how it was conceptualised and discussed. The existence of money... Read More about Money and its use in the thought and experience of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (1093–1109).

A three-dimensional color space from the 13th century (2012)
Journal Article
Smithson, H. E., Dinkova-Bruun, G., Gasper, G. E., Huxtable, M., McLeish, T. C., & Panti, C. (2012). A three-dimensional color space from the 13th century. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 29(2), A346-A352. https://doi.org/10.1364/josaa.29.00a346

We present a new commentary on Robert Grosseteste’s De colore, a short treatise that dates from the early 13th century, in which Grosseteste constructs a linguistic combinatorial account of color. In contrast to other commentaries (e.g., Kuehni & Sch... Read More about A three-dimensional color space from the 13th century.

Envy, Jealousy and the Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Anselm, Eadmer and the Genesis of the Proslogion (2010)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. E. (2010). Envy, Jealousy and the Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Anselm, Eadmer and the Genesis of the Proslogion. Viator, 41(2), 45-68. https://doi.org/10.1484/j.viator.1.100791

Anselm of Canterbury’s Proslogion is one of the most celebrated of medieval treatises. This discussion seeks to examine more closely the circumstances in which the Proslogion was conceived and took shape. In particular it analyses the account of the... Read More about Envy, Jealousy and the Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Anselm, Eadmer and the Genesis of the Proslogion.

A northern monastic sermon collection (2007)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2007). A northern monastic sermon collection. In R. Gameson (Ed.), Treasures of Durham University Library (42-43). Third Millenium

Anselm and Abelard: Investigations and Juxtapositions (2006)
Book
Gasper, G. E., & Kohlenberger, H. (Eds.). (2006). Anselm and Abelard: Investigations and Juxtapositions. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies

This wide-ranging collection consists of sixteen papers by leading scholars on two of the most well-known medieval thinkers. Together, they offer important perspectives on an intellectual world that was to have a profound influence over the trajector... Read More about Anselm and Abelard: Investigations and Juxtapositions.

An Anglican Anselm (2006)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. E. (2006). An Anglican Anselm. In G. E. Gasper, & H. Kohlenberger (Eds.), Anselm and Abelard : investigations and juxtapositions (103-117). Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies

‘A doctor in the house’? The context for Anselm of Canterbury’s interest in medicine with reference to a probable case of malaria (2004)
Journal Article
Gasper, G. (2004). ‘A doctor in the house’? The context for Anselm of Canterbury’s interest in medicine with reference to a probable case of malaria. Journal of Medieval History, 30(3), 245-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmedhist.2004.06.003

This paper discusses the nature of Anselm of Canterbury’s interest in medicine, an interest that has been noticed in passing before but never properly explored. The evidence comes mainly from the 1070s and 1080s when he was prior of the abbey of Bec... Read More about ‘A doctor in the house’? The context for Anselm of Canterbury’s interest in medicine with reference to a probable case of malaria.

Anselm and the Articella (2004)
Journal Article
Gasper, G., & Wallis, F. (2004). Anselm and the Articella. Traditio, 59, 129-174

The Norman arrow finds a ready target (2000)
Book Chapter
Gasper, G. (2000). The Norman arrow finds a ready target. In H. Chadwick (Ed.), Not Angels But Anglicans: The Story of Christianity in the British Isles. Canterbury Press