Courtney L. Luckhardt

Instructor

Office: 122 Mitchell
Telephone: 901.678.3380
Fax: 901.678.2720
E-mail: c.luckhardt@memphis.edu or cllckhrd@memphis.edu
Education: Ph.D., Medieval Studies, University of Notre Dame, 2011

Fields of interest

Medieval history, particularly the early Middle Ages and Late Antiquity; medieval travel and communication; hagiography and the cult of the saints; medieval Latin literature, including Hiberno-Latin

My dissertation at the University of Notre Dame, “Connecting Saints: Travel and Hagiography in the Northwestern Atlantic, 500-800,” was overseen by Prof. Thomas F.X. Noble and Prof. Julia M.H. Smith. My research explored how and why connection, communication, exchange, and travel were such integral parts of early medieval hagiography in northern Europe and how this kind of religious travel fit into the larger picture of early medieval travel, which had previously focused on secular political and commercial exchange. I argued that travel and cultural exchange involved the delicate and negotiation of multiple intersecting loyalties to God, to family and kin groups, to local communities, and to secular and ecclesiastical authorities that provided economic advantages, societal benefits, and religious blessings, reflecting both continuity and change during the “Transformation of the Roman World,” in the late antique and early medieval periods.

Courses taught

World and Western Civilization surveys (University of Memphis and University of Notre Dame), Medieval and Renaissance history (Memphis), The Birth of the Middle Ages (Notre Dame), The Vikings and the World of the Norse (Notre Dame), Medieval Devotion and Dissent, c. 1000-1300 (University of Glasgow)

Representative publications

• “Connectivity and Gender: Facilitating Religious Travel in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries” (submitted and under review at Early Medieval Europe).
• “Wandering Saints: Religious Travels in Ireland and Northern Europe in the Ninth Century,” Beyond Saints and Scholars: Irish Medieval Studies in the 21st Century, Conference Proceedings from Saint Louis University, 26-29 October 2008 (forthcoming).
• “Le Menagier de Paris: A Parisian Bourgeoisie Household in the Fourteenth Century,” Quaestio: Phi Alpha Theta History Journal (Spring 2002).

Recent conference presentations

• “The Networks of Saint Cainnech,” at International Congress of Celtic Studies, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, 1-5 August 2011. 4 August 2011.
• “Saintly Women and Connectivity in the Early Middle Ages,” at International Medieval Conference, University of Leeds, 12-15 July 2010. 12 July 2010.