Phyllis Jestice
Professor
Office Hours: MWF 10:00-11:00 & by appointment.
Phone: 843.953.1420
E-mail: jesticepg@cofc.edu
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice is a historian of medieval Europe, with a particular fondness for Germany in the central Middle Ages and a dislike for people who mistakenly call it the "Holy Roman Empire." She is a west-coaster, with a Ph.D. and M.A. in History and Humanities from Stanford Uniersity and a B.A. in European History from the University of Puget Sound (in her home town of Tacoma, WA). Dr. Jestice is currently president of the Southeastern Medieval Association.
Dr. Jestice's most recent monograph, a multi-year study of empresses in tenth-century Germany, was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2018. Declaring herself sick of both the tenth century and of Germany (at least temporarily), she launched a new research project that grew out of teaching her favorite course---the Crusades. This is a study of the heiresses of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the twelfth century, and of the "mail-order" husbands who had to be provided for them from western Europe. Besides scholarly writing, she also translates from German and has developed an odd sideline in medieval (especially naval) warfare, with a large number of book chapters and volumes intended for a popular audience. In her spare time, she indulges shamelessly in music, being a reasonably gifted violinist, harpsichordist, and singer, and has the strange distinction of being the only faculty member of the CofC Orchestra.
Education
Ph.D., History and Humanities, Stanford University, 1989
M.A., History and Humanities, Stanford University, 1985
B.A., History, University of Puget Sound, summa cum laude, Coolidge Otis Chapman Honors Scholar, 1982
Research Interests
History of medieval Europe with current emphasis on twelfth-century ecclesio-political history.
Work in progress: “Daughters of Jerusalem: Inheritance, Foreign Marriage, and the Crafting of the Crusader States.”
Courses Taught
Just about anything medieval, including Church-state relations, medieval Ireland, medieval England, the Crusades, medieval frontiers, the 100 Years War, the Vikings, and the Early Middle Ages.
Honors and Awards
2005 USM Aubrey K. and Ella G. Lucas Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award2008 Mississippi Humanities Council Humanities Teacher Award.
Publications
Recent Publications:
The Imperial Ladies of the Ottonian Dynasty: Women and Power in Tenth-Century Germany (Palgrave MacMillan, April 2018)
Castles of the World (Amber Books, 2019)
Medieval Knight (Amber Books, 2018)
Translation of Jochen Schenk and Graham A. Loud, eds., The Origins of the German Principalities, 1100–1350 (Ashgate, 2017)
Other Publications:
Wayward Monks and the Religious Revolution of the Eleventh Century. E.J. Brill, Studies in Intellectual History, 1997.
"A Great Jewish Conspiracy? Worsening Jewish-Christian Relations and the Destruction of the Holy Sepulcher." In Christian Attitudes toward Jews in the Middle Ages: A Casebook, ed. Michael Frassetto. Routledge, 2007.
"A New Fashion in Imitating Christ: Changing Spiritual Perspectives around the Year 1000." In
The Year 1000: Reactions and Responses, ed. Michael Frassetto. Brill, 2003.
Encyclopedia of Irish Spirituality (ABC-Clio, 2001).
"Why Celibacy? Odo of Cluny and the Development of a New Sexual Morality," in Medieval Purity and Piety. Essays on Medieval Clerical Celibacy and Religious Reform, ed. Michael Frassetto, Garland, 1998.