Medieval Italy, medieval and early modern women

Essays in honour of Christine Meek

Conor Kostick editor

‘A volume in two roughly equal parts, medieval Italy and women in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance … Meek’s research is frequently referred to throughout, and many of the contributors warmly acknowledge her influence on them … the volume is handsomely produced … as well as readers who find their way to it because of their interest in a particular contribution, there will be those who read the volume through because of their general interest in medieval Italy or in medieval and early modern women’, John Flood, Óenach: reviews of the FMRSI (December 2010).

‘The essays in the festschrift presented on the occasion of her retirement, reflect the interests of Christine Meek, professor at Trinity Colelge, Dublin. Kostick has selected papers that dovetail nicely … this is an excellent collection by noted scholars that is a fitting tribute to Meek', Reference and Research Book News (November 2010).

‘The diverse essays contributed by Meek’s students and colleagues from both sides of the Atlantic coalesce – largely thanks to a well-crafted introduction by Conor Kostick – into a whole worthy of the honorand … the quality of the contributions to this fine volume are an impressive testament to Christine Meek's career and influence, and Kostick's introduction ties its disparate threads together effectively via its portrait of Meek's scholarly life. There are two general themes here: the first is the crucial importance of meticulous documentary research in complicating or even contradicting the interpretive models that (perhaps inevitably) dominate much historical writing. The second is an academic version of the 'butterfly effect': the volume demonstrates clearly how one person's interests can affect a wide range of scholarly endeavours - that historians are not (contrary to public opinion) lonely singular researchers buried amid stacks of their own books, but social beings for whom communication, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas are just as transformative as finding that one crucial document in the archive', Thomas McCarthy & Carrie Benes, The Medieval Review (February 2011).