Andrew DoddRoberta Cimino

I graduated with a BA  in History and a MA in Medieval Cultures and Archive Administration from the University of Bologna. I focused my MA dissertation on the political and economic resources of the Carolingian empress Angelberga in the 9th century. In September 2009 I started a PhD at the St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies (in co-tutelle with the University of Bologna).

My thesis investigates the role of royal women in 9th and 10th century Italy. Between the Carolingian conquest of the Lombard kingdom (774) and the incorporation of Italy into the Ottonian empire (962), the Italian kingdom witnessed a series of dramatic political changes that undermined its institutional stability. The sources of the period stress the influence of queens and noble women and frequently report their involvement in political events and in the administration of the kingdom. This has been explained by a lack of dynastic continuity due to the dissolution of the Carolingian empire, which gave a major political role to the powerful noble families and to their women. However, the idea of Italian queens’ exceptional power has often been based on the visibility of a few prominent figures who have monopolized the attention of scholars. Based on the study of sources which have not been fully exploited for the study of queenship, my research aims to contextualise and analyse Italian royal women in relation to the evolving political conditions they had to face. 

Thesis title
Italian queens in the 9th and 10th centuries

Supervisor
 Dr Simon MacLean; Co-supervisor: Dr Tiziana Lazzari.

Academic Papers

  • “Il patrimonio di Angelberga e la sua dislocazione territoriale”, V Convegno della Società italiana delle Storiche (Napoli,  29th January 2010).
  • “The misrepresentation of Italian queens in 10th century sources: the cases of Angelberga and Bertilla”, Gender and Transgression in the Middle Age – 3rd Postgraduate Conference (St Andrews, 24th April 2010)
  • Empress Angelberga and her landholding in the Italian kingdom”, International Medieval Congress (Leeds, 12th July 2010).
  •  “Shameless harlots and Child-eating witches? Italian royal women in 10th-century narratives”, International Medieval Congress (Leeds, 12th  July 2011).

Publications

  • Duoda e le altre: storia delle donne e risorse on-line, [Duoda and the others: women’s history and online resources] "Reti Medievali - Rivista", 10 (2009), url: <http://www.retimedievali.it>.
  • Beni fiscali e potere delle donne nel Regno Italico: l’imperatrice Angelberga, [ Fiscal estates and women’s power in the Italian kingdom: empress Angelberga], “Società Donne &Storia”, 5 (2010), pp. 76- 159.
  • Angelberga, San Sisto e il corso del fiume Po [Angelberga, San Sisto and the Po river] (provisional title), in T. LAZZARI (ed.), I dotari delle regine e la gestione del patrimonio del fisco regio fra Italia e Germania (secoli IX-X), “Reti Medievali -  Rivista”, url: <http://www.retimedievali.it>, forthcoming.
  • Il patrimonio di Angelberga e la sua dislocazione territoriale [Angelberga’s wealth and its territorial distribution] in L.GUIDI, M.R.PELIZZARI (ed.),  Atti del V Congresso della Società italiana delle Storiche, forthcoming.


Other
Co-organizer of the 4th  annual postgraduate conference Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages (St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 4th  – 5th May 2012).

Teaching
ME1003 Transformation and Crisis in the Early Medieval World