Bartlett, Robert 1950- (Robert John Bartlett)

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Bartlett, Robert 1950- (Robert John Bartlett)

PERSONAL:

Born November 27, 1950, in London, England; immigrated to the United States, 1986; son of Leonard F. and Mabel Bartlett; married Honora Elaine Hickey (a writer); children: Gabriel, Penelope, Brian. Education: Peterhouse, Cambridge, B.A., 1972, M.A., 1976; graduate study at Princeton University, 1976-77; St. John's College, Oxford, D.Phil., 1978.

ADDRESSES:

Office—School of History, University of St. Andrews, St. Katharine's Lodge, The Scores, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9AR, Scotland. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, lecturer in history, 1980-86; spent several years at University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, as professor of medieval history, beginning 1986; University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, professor of history. Member of Institute for Advanced Study and fellow at Davis Center, Princeton, NJ, 1983-84.

MEMBER:

Royal Historical Society (fellow), Historical Association, Ecclesiastical History Society, Pipe Roll Society, Mediaeval Academy of America.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fellow at University of Michigan, 1979-80; Fulbright scholar at Princeton University, 1983-84.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Gerald of Wales, 1146-1223, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1982.

Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1986.

(Editor, with Angus Mackay) Medieval Frontier Societies, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1989.

The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change, 950-1350, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 1993.

England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

(Editor) Medieval Panorama, J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA), 2001.

(Editor and translator) Geoffrey of Burton, Life and Miracles of St. Modwenna, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2002.

(Editor and translator) The Miracles of Saint Abbe of Coldingham and Saint Margaret of Scotland, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2003.

(Editor) History and Historians: Selected Papers of R.W. Southern, Blackwell (Malden, MA), 2004.

The Hanged Man: A Story of Miracle, Memory, and Colonialism in the Middle Ages, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 2004.

The Natural and the Supernatural in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2008.

Contributor to history journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Historian Robert Bartlett's work focuses on medieval Europe, with attention to saints, alleged miracles, and other religious topics, as well as more mundane aspects of the era, including legal procedures and territorial conquest. Critics have often deemed his writings scholarly yet widely accessible.

His first published book, Gerald of Wales, 1146-1223, chronicles the life of a controversial historian and cleric. Gerald was born into nobility, both Norman and Welsh, and served the Catholic Church as archdeacon of Brecon, with the ultimate goal of becoming bishop of St. David's in Wales and establishing that parish as a metropolitan see, independent of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This effort was doomed, in part because of Gerald's stormy relationship with the Angevin kings of England, particularly King John. In defeat, Gerald allied himself with the cause of his native Wales and retired from public life. His last years were spent in writing, both about himself and the history of his times. In a Times Literary Supplement review, Gwyn Jones commented that "Bartlett's bibliographical rather than biographical approach to his subject, together with his detailed characterization of Gerald's ideas, attitudes, and intellectual milieu, can leave no one in doubt that here was an intriguing man … and an author of considerable skill, eloquence and diversity." Jones added: "Gerald of Wales, 1146-1223 is a useful contribution to the history of ideas at a particular time and in respect of a remarkable man."

In Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal, Bartlett makes the rather surprising comment that, hideous as the practice was, it was as rational to the medieval mind as any other known method of criminal procedure. Witnesses lied routinely, evidence was rarely indisputable, and only God's will was unquestionably reliable. The ordeal was employed widely from the eighth through the twelfth centuries, and its popularity waned only when the clergy was forbidden to serve as judges, particularly in cases where the death of the accused was likely. The practice was abandoned in 1215, and Europe was left with no clearcut criminal procedure for several hundred years. Times Literary Supplement critic Jonathan Sumption praised the book as "a monograph which not only covers the whole chronological and geographical range, but does so as elegantly and thoughtfully as this one, is a considerable achievement."

The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change, 950-1350 covers the way in which what is now considered Europe evolved from a much smaller geographical area. In the eighth and ninth centuries "Europe" was essentially lands now belonging to France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. This was the realm of Charlemagne, whose successors, beginning in the tenth century, began spreading their culture and, often, their religion—Roman Catholicism—outward in all directions. Germans migrated east; the Norman French conquered England; and other Christians attempted to oust Spain's Muslim rulers, eventually succeeding.

Some reviewers thought Bartlett portrayed this history in an innovative fashion. Roger Draper, writing in the New Leader, noted that novel aspects of the work included "its stress on the systematic, indeed virtually capitalistic, nature of the expansion in the High Middle Ages" and "focus on the ‘frontier’ of medieval Europe, where languages, cultures, races, and religions clashed." R.R. Davies, a contributor to the English Historical Review, remarked that "Bartlett's approach is fresh and original … a bravura example of comparative history at its best, frequently juxtaposing the familiar with the unfamiliar, from either end of Europe, in a startlingly effective manner." In History Today, R.I. Moore characterized the book as "both an original and important contribution to the development of the subject and genuinely and enjoyably accessible to a wide and inexpert readership."

Others voiced some reservations about Bartlett's work. "As a parallel for his pattern of Europeanisation he instances the ‘Americanisation’ of the world in the twentieth century," observed Journal of Ecclesiastical History critic Donald Matthew. "Though this suggestive comparison makes a valid point it is obviously defective in other ways." Jean Dunbabin commented in Medium Aevum that "the process [of Europeanization] was neither so smooth nor so complete as he contends." Dunbabin nonetheless found The Making of Europe "stimulating," while Matthew allowed that Bartlett "has written a remarkable book."

The Hanged Man: A Story of Miracle, Memory, and Colonialism in the Middle Ages deals with several of Bartlett's interests, including judicial procedures, religion, and political expansionism, in focusing on the case of a man who "miraculously" revived after his hanging. In 1290, William Cragh, considered by some a common criminal and others a fighter for Welsh independence from England, was hanged and pronounced dead, but a few hours later he was found to be alive. As he faced death, he had made a plea to the late bishop of Hereford, Thomas de Cantilupe. In 1307, Cragh's supposed resurrection was among the evidence considered in Thomas's canonization. Bartlett explores the subjectivity in the varying accounts given by witnesses, the contrasts between the church scholars and the uneducated laypeople, and the struggles between the Welsh and the English.

Several commentators deemed The Hanged Man an entertaining and edifying microcosm of medieval times. It "convincingly demonstrates that placing a historical microscope over a tiny incident can yield rich insights into larger matters," reported Historian contributor Joyce E. Salisbury. Diane L. Mockridge, writing in History: Review of New Books, observed that in "focusing on an obscure but fascinating event," Bartlett "explores issues central to the late medieval world." Bartlett also received praise for his writing style; Spectator critic Byron Rogers called the book "more readable than most thrillers," while Michael Cichon, a reviewer for Canadian Journal of History, remarked on "its lucid and clever prose." Cichon recommended the work to both veteran and inexperienced scholars, and Mockridge noted that it is "accessible to general readers as well." Nora Berend, writing for the Institute of Historical Research Web site, summed up The Hanged Man by calling the book "superb," "well-written," and "infused with a dry sense of humour." Salisbury concluded: "It is a model for teasing every bit of evidence from a brief source to reveal the mental world of medieval people."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Antiquity, December, 2001, N. James and Simon Stoddart, review of Medieval Panorama, p. 880.

Canadian Journal of History, March, 22, 2006, Michael Cichon, review of The Hanged Man: A Story of Miracle, Memory, and Colonialism in the Middle Ages, p. 111.

Catholic Historical Review, October, 2006, Diana Webb, review of The Hanged Man, p. 655.

Contemporary Review, November, 1993, Leo Muray, review of The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change, 950-1350, p. 272.

English Historical Review, June, 1994, R.R. Davies, review of The Making of Europe, p. 656; April, 2003, Nicholas Vincent, review of Life and Miracles of St. Modwenna, p. 470.

Historian, summer, 2004, Susan P. Millinger, review of Life and Miracles of St. Modwenna, p. 388; fall, 2005, Joyce E. Salisbury, review of The Hanged Man, p. 558.

History: Review of New Books, fall, 2004, Diane L. Mockridge, review of The Hanged Man, p. 24.

History Today, February, 1994, R.I. Moore, review of The Making of Europe, p. 53.

Journal of Ecclesiastical History, January, 1995, Donald Matthew, review of The Making of Europe, p. 139; April, 2005, Paul Hayward, review of The Miracles of Saint Abbe of Coldingham and Saint Margaret of Scotland, p. 349; January, 2006, Kenneth Pennington, review of The Hanged Man, p. 137.

Library Journal, January, 2002, Karen Ellis, review of Medieval Panorama, p. 96.

Medium Aevum, fall, 1994, Jean Dunbabin, review of The Making of Europe, p. 356.

New Leader, October 4, 1993, Roger Draper, review of The Making of Europe, p. 15.

Spectator, April 24, 2004, Byron Rogers, "A Tale of Suspense," p. 47.

Times Literary Supplement, October 29, 1982, Gwyn Jones, review of Gerald of Wales, 1146-1223; April 17, 1987, Jonathan Sumption, review of Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal.