Of Love and War: Holy Cross to Hold Medieval/Renaissance Event

The College of the Holy Cross will host a medieval/renaissance colloquium titled “Of Love and War,” on Thursday, Oct. 20. The colloquium will include a live sword demonstration and a sword-handling workshop from representatives of the Higgins Armory Museum; and a concert-lecture by the award winning duo, Asteria. The pair will present songs from medieval Burgundy. All events are free and open to the public.

Schedule of events:

Colloquium: 4 p.m., Brooks Concert Hall

The colloquium includes short presentations, demonstrations and discussion from the following:  James Powers, professor of history at Holy Cross, will discuss military depictions and their message in Western Europe from 1000-1230. 

Mark Lincicome, associate professor and chair of the history department at Holy Cross, will discuss the aura of the sword in Japanese history.

William Short, from the Higgins Armory Museum, will discuss and show Viking fighting moves from the “Sagas of Icelanders.”

Devon Kurtz and Neal Bourbeau, both from the Higgins Armory Museum, will discuss and show how to arm a knight. (They may need a volunteer from the audience!)

Ken Mondschein, from the Higgins Armory Museum, will speak on medieval fighting books. 

Sword Displays: 5:30 p.m., Smith Courtyard

Mondschein and Short will present a live sword demonstration and a sword-handling workshop.

Concert-lecture: 8 p.m., Brooks Concert Hall Asteria (Sylvia Rhyne, soprano, and Eric Redlinger, tenor and lute) brings to life the exquisite love songs of medieval Burgundy. Their historically informed settings and intimate interpretations are based on extensive archival research into original sources in Paris, The Hague, and Basel, Switzerland.

This engaging duo brings out the passion and emotional impact of late medieval vocal and instrumental music with timeless love songs of wide appeal, transporting their listeners back to the age of chivalry.

Asteria has been heralded as “meltingly beautiful” by The New York Times and as “captivating and intimate” by Goldberg Magazine.