MEDIEVAL NEW YORK
Paul Halsall/Fordham University/
Fall 1996-Spring 1998 Classes
Web Project for Introduction to Medieval History
The city of New York is a great creation of modern American culture, but to the eyes of
a medievalist the histories of the European, Byzantine, and Islamic Middle Ages are
documented in its streets and buildings:
- In the museums of the city we find a wealth of artistic, manuscript and architectural
objects from the middle ages.
- In New York's buildings we can trace the history of medieval architecture.
- The ethnic and religious communities which make up the city have preserved, and in some
cases developed, religious and cultural tradition which had their roots in medieval
societies.
- The contrast between "medieval" and "modern" cannot be taken as
absolute - elements of medieval technology survived until the Industrial Revolution [and
later], and can be seen in the Colonial heritage of New York.
After reading through the contents of this site, you will have little doubt about just
how deeply, and in how many different ways, the European middle ages permeate New York's
life. Far from being a matter of antiquarianism, without some knowledge of the middle
ages, it is hardly possible to understand the city and its culture.
This website is the result of class project to which all students of Paul Halsall's
1996-1998 introductory medieval history courses have contributed. It should serve as a
fairly complete guide to Medieval New York. Each student [or groups of two or
three] took a particular aspect of the middle ages in New York, researched it, visited it
if appropriate, secured pictures, and wrote about it. Some pages are clearly better than
others. Students were asked to secure permission for any images/texts they used, and the
individual pages are copyright to the student creator(s) of the page.
On 31 May 1998 the New York Times ran an article on this project:
NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: NEW YORK ONLINE: Little Old, Really Old, New York
By Tanthony Ramirez, May 31 1988.
Back in the late 1990s the visual style of internet projects was more varied than now (2023) when formal white space tends to dominate. An older version of this site can be seen at Medieval New York (Wayback Machine)
*****
I. Medieval Architecture
Architecture presents perhaps the most dramatic impact of the Middle Ages in New York.
Romanesque, Gothic, pre-Gothic and Gothic revival churches abound. Jewish and Muslim
buildings also draw on the building styles of the past.
BYZANTINE
Byzantine church architecture in the large domed basilica form represented by Hagia
Sophia in Constantinople is represented in New York only in a somewhat odd fashion by Holy
Trinity RC Church on West 82nd St. Later styles - which emphasized smaller churches with
domes on a square base - are more visible.
- Holy Trinity Church,
213 W. 82nd St., New York. 188? (Roman Catholic) [Fred Taylor]
A very odd mix of architecture. The facade is Romanesque(ish), but the interior dome is
and architectural modeling is as seen in Hagia Sophia. The fairly restrained mosaics might
also recall early Byzantine decoration. But there are also distinctly non-Byzantine
stained glass windows!
- St. Demetrius'
Cathedral (Greek Orthodox), 31st St., Astoria, Queens [Lauren Evans/Nicole
Polleta]
This in an almost perfect recreation of a small Byzantine Cathedral, like the churches of
Mistra or the older cathedral in Athens.
- St. Irene of
Chrysovalantou Monastery (Greek Orthodox/Old Calendar), 23rd Avenue, Astoria,
Queens [Lauren Evans/Nicole Polleta]
St. Irene's building is a conventional modern barn, but the interior is a dramatic and
forceful example of the sensual impact of a Byzantine church.
-
St. Markella of Chios,
(Hellenic Orthodox Traditionalist Church of America: Holy Diocese of Astoria), 22-68 26th
Street Astoria, N.Y. 11105 [offsite link]
The church claims that it is modeled on St. Saviour in Chora in Constantinople.
- St. Bartholemew's
Church (Episcopal), Park Avenue @ E. 51st Street. 1918, Designer: Bertram
Gardner Goodhue. Lawrie Lee Sculptor. (Portico by Stanford White)[George Sanchez]
St. Bart's is in the composite modern form known as "Byzantine-Romanesque". It's
brickwork, mosaics, and dome recall Byzantium, while its Latin Cross shape is distinctly
western.
- Cathedral of the Resurrection, 228 N 12th St., Brooklyn, (Russian
Orthodox Outside Russia)
Dramatic and detailed recreation of a Russian Church, onion domes and all.
ROMANESQUE
"Romanesque" is the name given to the distinctive style of Western
medieval building before the twelfth century. The "Roman" comes from the use of
columns, barrel vaults, and rounded arches, but the effect is quite different from ancient
Roman architecture. In England the style is often called "Norman". The
simplicity of Romanesque appeals to the modern eye.
- St. Vartan
Cathedral (Armenian Apostolic) 630 2nd Avenue @ E. 34nd St. 1968 [Celeste
Fay]
Medieval Armenia had some of the most innovative architecture of the period. The crusades
brought Westerners into contact with this style, which thus affected later ecclesiastical
and military architecture. St. Vartan's presents New Yorkers with a full-blown example of
an Armenian church from the 4th Century..
- The Church of the
Guardian Angel (Roman Catholic), 10th Avenue @ W. 21st St. 1930s, Designer:
John Van Pelt [Wendy Plaut]
An often overlooked gem from the 1930s. The facade represents southern Sicilian
Romanesque.
- St. John Nepomucene, (Roman Catholic), 411 East 66th St. @ 1st Avenue,
(212) 734-4613
An architectural twin of Guardian Angel church.
- Park Avenue Methodist Church, (Methodist), East 66th st @ Park Avenue
Not exactly Romanesque, but the portal and facade frieze are distinct borrowings.
- Romanesque Chapel at the Cloisters
The Cloisters Museum contains a reconstructed Romanesque chapel from Northern Spain.
- Temple Emanu-El,
5th Avenue @ E. 65th St. 1927, Designers: Robert D. Kohn, Charles Butler, and Clarence
Stein, [Gerard Fernandez]
One of the most impressive Romanesque buildings in New York is this huge Reform synagogue.
- The Cathedral of St.
John the Divine (Episcopal), Morningside Heights, 1892-, Designers: Heins and
Lafarfe, Ralph Adams Cram, [Cassie Farrelly]
With a history and construction schedule of genuinely medieval complexity, as well as a
complete change of style from Romanesque to Gothic at its mid-section, St. John's, with
its heavy local involvement, is perhaps the best New York example of how a Medieval
Cathedral worked.
GOTHIC
"Gothic" architecture begins with the building of the Abbey of St. Denis in
the mid twelfth century. It is marked by pointed arches, complex vaults, and the use, in
some cases, of flying buttresses. In practice many buildings show both
"Romanesque" and "Gothic" characteristics [See the Chapter House at
the Cloisters for example.] Gothic architecture underwent significant development after
the twelfth-century, and also developed distinct national styles. See the
Catholic Encyclopedia: Gothic
Architecture for a pretty good online summary. There are more examples of varieties of
Gothic architecture in New York than any other medieval style.
-
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral
(Roman Catholic), 263 Mulberry Street, 1809 [offsite link]
The first Catholic cathedral in New York City was built in an austere Gothic style.
- Trinity Church
(Episcopal), Broadway @ Wall St. 1846, Designer: Richard Upjohn [Gregory Pace]
Trinity Church, as well as being one of the richest churches in the U.S., is also a very
important example of the nineteenth-century Gothic revival. The early phase of this
movement emphasized a return to early simple Gothic architecture.
-
First Presbyterian Church
(Presbyterian), Fifth Avenue @ 12th St. 1846, [offsite link]
The Presbyterian "cathedral". This neo-gothic church, with a square tower,
replaced an earlier Greek revival church on Wall St. There was considerable reconstruction
in 1918-22.
- St. Mary the Virgin
(Episcopalian), W 46th St. @ 7th Avenue. 1895, Designer: Napoleon Le Brun [Tim Chang]
Another plain style Gothic church (in fact an attempt at 13-14th century French Gothic).
Unlike Trinity, which is "broad church" in its worship style, St. Mary's, known
locally as "Smoky Mary's" promotes a full throated High Church ritualism. The
result is an interior which better reflects late medieval Church decoration, at least as
understood by nineteenth-century English aesthetes. The creator of this page had located a
picture which reveals the dirty secret of most Neo-Gothic churches - the use of iron frame
construction - St. Mary's claims to have been the first to use it.
- St. Peter's Church
(Roman Catholic), Staten Island, 1903, [Carmelo Melluso]
Staten Island's oldest Catholic church.
- Grace Church
(Episcopal), Broadway @ E 10th St. 1846, Designer: James Renwick [Carlo Bonavita]
By the same architect as St. Patrick's, this is among the prettiest of New York churches.
It gives a very good idea of how an southern English village church might look. It even
has an octagonal chapter house. Since the worship style here is distinctively "Low
Church", the interior does not feel especially "medieval".
- St. Thomas Church
(Episcopal), 5th Avenue @ 54th St., 1911, Designer Bertram Gardner Goodhue. Lawrie Lee
Sculptor. [Erin McMenamy and Gary Reznik]
- Riverside Church
(Baptist/Interdenominational), Riverside Drive @ 122nd St. 1927, Designers: Henry C.
Pelton and Charles Collens [James Retarides]
Has a tower modeled on Chartres, and a full working continental carillon of bells.
- St. Patrick's
Cathedral (Roman Catholic) Fifth Avenue @ 50th St. 1859-, Designer: James
Renwick [Marcus Franz]
St. Patrick's represents an effort to create a model Gothic cathedral. It is tremendously
popular, although some people feel the effect is rather Disneyesque.
- The Gothic Chapel
at the Cloisters [Brian McHugh]
This is not usually thought to be the most successful part of the Cloisters.
- St. Vincent Ferrar
(Roman Catholic), Lexington Ave. @ 66th St., 1915, Designer: Bertram Gardner Goodhue.
Lawrie Lee Sculptor. [Tim McHale]
The main Dominican Order (or Order of Preachers) Church in New York, some think St.
Vincent's is the most convincing of all "medieval" churches in the city. It is
of interest to medievalists for three reasons: it is constructed in a medieval
architectural style; it is dedicated to a medieval saint; and it is still run by a
medieval religious order.
- Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity, (Episcopalian) Brooklyn
Heights.
A re-creation of late medieval English Gothic, with a ceiling to rival King's Chapel,
Cambridge.
- All Saints Church
(Episcopal), 7th Ave @ 7th St., Brooklyn Heights. 1893,[Kelly Johnson/Alison Samaniego]
A rather eclectic building, which is basically Gothic "with additions". Since
its windows are by Tiffany, it is worth a visit.
- Old St. John's,
Fordham University Church (Roman Catholic), Fordham Rose Hill Campus, The
Bronx. 1845, Designer: Rodrigue [Dan Venturi]
Fordham's university church is, to say the least, eclectic. The Lantern, its most
distinctive feature, is modeled on Ely Cathedral and St. John's College (Cambridge)
Chapel. In its setting with Queen's Court, The
Church forms one of the brightest "medieval" settings in New York. Come to
Fordham and you can marry here! The interior of the church has post medieval interest:
some of the windows were donated by King Louis Phillipe of France, and there are relics of
North American Jesuit martyrs.
- The Smallpox Hospital (on Roosevelt Island)
- Gothic House, 266 West End Avenue @ W. 72nd St.
- Gothic House, 4 East 80th St. @ Fifth Avenue
- Public School 166, West 89th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam
A public school done in late Gothic style. Four very cute gargoyles sit over the entrance,
and the gutter gargoyles are impressive.
- Woolworth Building,
233 Broadway. 1913, Designer: Cass Gilbert. [John Buttowski]
Once the world's tallest building (for 13 years). Done entirely in Flemish Gothic style.
- New York Gargoyles -
Upper West Side, [Todd Ames and Igor Shulimovich]
New York is full of them!
- New York Gargoyles
- Midtown [Ben Goeke]
RENAISSANCE/ITALIANATE
Italian architecture sometimes looked similar to transalpine styles [for instance the
Duomo in Milan], but frequently followed its own path. Much of Venice is
"Gothic" for instance, but in a distinctive way. The buildings - palazzi - of Florence have had a particular impact on New York architecture. Although Florentine
buildings were not 50 stories high, many early skyscrapers in Manhattan emulate the
general lines of a Florentine building. The urban closeness, and "squareness" of
Florence certainly has some familiarity to visiting New Yorkers.
It is worth noting that some of the most spectacular Italianate buildings in New York
were demolished before building preservation laws were established. Among them were:-
- Madison Square Garden, 1889, Designer: Stanford White. Part North
Italian, Part Spanish, with a tower topped with a statute of Diana.
- New York Herald Building, 1894, Designer: Stanford White. A direct take
on Fra Giacondo'd Palazzo del Consiglio in Verona.
- Carnegie Hall,
W. 57th St. @ 7th Avenue. 1891, Designer: William Burnet Tuthill, [Tim Stevens]
Almost certainly the most famous concert hall in the world, its interior, after
redecoration and restoration, is serenely neo-classical. The exterior, however, is a
wonderful example of Italianate brickwork. Squint and you are in Tuscany.
- East Side 7th Regiment Armory, Lexington Avenue @ 66th St.
A direct take on Northen Italian town citadels, such as that in Milan.
- Kingsbridge Armory (8th Regional Army), 1912-1917, 29 West Kingsbridge
Road @ Jerome Avenue, Bronx
It covers a city block and is one of the largest armories in the world. It directly
imitates a medieval fortress
- University Club, 5th Ave @ ??th St. 1900, Designer: Charles Follen
McKim.
An almost perfect recreation of a Florentine palazzo, but with doorways adopted from the
Louvre.
- Judson Memorial
Church (nondenominational/Baptist), 55 Washington Sq. Sth., Designer:
Stanford White. [Katie Kramer]
Home to a very liberal and socially conscientious congregation, the interior of the Church
is not very pleasant [Medieval buildings did not have stage light fixtures, nor very
visible modern kitchens]. The exterior, however, gives a Italianate sparkle to Washington
square [which is, by the way a veritable panoply of New York's architectural history.]
- Some Broadway Theaters
MUSLIM/TURKISH
- Central Synagogue
(Reform Jewish), 652 Lexington Avenue @ E 55th St. 1871-72 Designer: Henry Fernbach [Amy
Nyack]
The 19th century debate about the appropriate architectural style for synagogues was
solved in many cases by appropriating "Moorish" style architecture.
- The New York Mosque
(Sunni Muslim), Third Avenue @ 96th St. 1990 [Rebecca Custer]
A completely modern building, the New York Mosque nevertheless recalls the use of space
typical of the grand mosques of Islamic, and specifically Turkish, religious architecture.
CASTLES
New York has castles! Well, sort of. A Medieval castle may be defined as a
"fortified residence", and, although some doorpersons on Park Avenue are pretty
fierce, such castles never seem to have existed in New York. However, fortification and
fantasy remained important in New York's architectural history.
- Castle Clinton,
at Battery Park, 1812 [Lavinia Andrews/Joana Ramos]
This pre-revolutionary fortified circle is really a "fortress" rather than a
castle. But it does feature shooting slits just like a real castle.
- Belvedere Castle
(in Central Park) [Lavinia Andrews/Joana Ramos]
Is a sheer fantasy of castle, but much beloved by generations of New York kids.
-
Fonthill Castle, in
grounds of College of Mount St. Vincent, Riverdale [offsite link]
This small Catholic college on the banks of the Hudson, has perhaps the most beautiful
setting of any New York College. Its main building is an enormous nineteenth-century
standard issue institutional mess. But the grounds also contain a folly - a castle with a
view over the Hudson. Fonthill Castle was completed in 1852 as a home for
the era's most distinguished actor, Edwin Forrest, and named after William Beckford's
famous English Castle, "Fonthill Abbey."
FAKE MEDIEVAL
The castles are fake, of course, but there many examples of Gothic elements being used
in essentially modern buildings. They can still be enjoyable to visit.
- Queen's Court,
on Fordham's Rose Hill Campus, 1844 [Sarah Downey]
Fordham's Rose Hill Campus contains an imitation medieval university quad. Along with the
close-by University Church, one can sit here and dream of Oxford.
- General Theological Seminary, another quad, (20th St. and 9th Avenue.)
- City College - another quad, (Convent Avenue)
- Plaza Hotel,
Central Park South @ Grand Army Plaza. [Alexandra Chiurri and Gianna Ortiz]
An attempt to imitate a late medieval French château
Jump Back to INDEX
II. Medieval Life and Technology
We had to stretch just a little bit here! But there are elements of colonial New York
sites which recall Medieval technology - a colonial farmhouse, the Snuff Mill, and
brewing, are just three examples.
- Dykeman House,
4881 Broadway @ 204th St. 1785 [Sondra Ganelli]
This is the last remaining Colonial Farmhouse in New York - right in the middle of the
vibrant Dominican community of Washington Heights. Colonial farms were not the same as
medieval farms, but the farming and building methods brought over by European colonists
did not emerge from nothing - they reflect adaptations of what was known to the New World
setting.
- Snuff Mill,
in New York Botanical Garden, 1792 [Jaisy Reyes]
The use of mills, and water wheel technology, was one of the most dramatic aspects of
medieval life. Romans had known about water mills, but had not used them. In the medieval
period, with its typically higher estimation of the value of work than the slave-society
or Rome, technological innovation ran way ahead of the classical world. This mill in the
Bronx was connected to the very New World trade of Tobacco, but its location and purpose
recall an earlier past.
- Brewing In New York [Ricardo Roces]
Some modern industries are in direct continuity with medieval practices. This cannot be
said for modern brewing, but recently in New York, older brewing methods have been revived
in the belief that the beer tastes better. [It does.] Some even use 20oz pints [as in
Britain], which turns out to the perfect measure for real beer.
- Bowling Green [Paul Halsall]
America's first public park was built for, and named after, a sport played since at least
1299 - crown.green (or lawn) bowling.
- The Potter's Field
Jump Back to INDEX
III. Medieval Geography
New York was named after the Duke of York, but York itself was an important
medieval town. New York's geography is a patchwork of Dutch, English, Native American
names. The European one's at least present a physical memory of old Europe.
- New York Botanical Garden [offsite
link]
In a sense the only real "medieval" [and also ancient, etc.] part of New York
City is in the New York Botanical Garden (right next to Fordham's Bronx campus). The
Botanical Garden alone contain old growth forest with in the City's boundaries. There are
also occasional exhibitions reflecting medieval themes:- for example the early summer 1997
exhibition on plants from the Unicorn Tapestries.
- Medieval Astoria [Paul Halsall]
The medieval side of Archie Bunker's home town.
- Town Names
- Chelsea
- Flatbush
- Flushing
- Greenwich
- Haarlem
- Pelham
- York
- Richmond
- St. Albans
- Roots of names ["wick", "chester", "hurst",
"bay", "dale", "haven", etc.]
Jump Back to INDEX
IV. Medieval Religious Echoes
Catholicism, Judaism and African-American Protestant Churches dominate New York's
religious life. The first two, at least, have major historical antecedents in the European
middle ages [Protestantism emerged a little later]. But all sorts of other echoes of
religious practices which recall topics discussed in medieval courses also have New York
reminders -- for instance saints' festivals, medieval "heresies", and churches
with very different histories from the American mainstream. The emphasis here then, is not
on religious architecture, but on religious practices.
GENERAL CHRISTIAN
- The Cathedrals of
New York [Paul Halsall]
A whole slew of churches have cathedrals in New York. In all there are at least eighteen
such structures located so far!
- New York Churches
Dedicated to Medieval Saints [Paul Halsall]
At least 58 medieval Christian saints (between 312 and 1517) have about 114 churches named
after them in New York. St. Nicholas has the most with eleven churches, including 2
Cathedrals.
- The Cult of the
Virgin Mary in New York [Paul Halsall]
The growth of the cult of Virgin Mary is a distinctive feature of both Byzantine and
Western Medieval Christianity. In a very real sense, New York is Mary's city. She has more
churches here (over 95) than in any Medieval city, including Constantinople. There
are also active apparition cults, regular processions, and Marian groups.
MEDIEVAL CATHOLICISM
Street festivals for Catholic saints occur all over New York. Many were originated by
local ethnic neighborhood organizations seeking to recall the street festivals of the
homeland. Today these events are dominated by greasy foods and stall games, but usually
some sort of religious procession is involved as well. See the NYC government's
calendar of street events.
-
San Gennaro Festival,
10-20th September, (in Mulberry St.) [offsite link]
St. Januarius was an
ancient Christian martyr, and patron of Naples. The feast has been held in New York since
1926. The feast today has more to do with gambling and sausages.
- St. Anthony of Padua Festival, early June, Sullivan St., Soho.
- Our Lady of Mount
Carmel, August, @ 116th St.
-
Feast of
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Paulinus of Nola, mid July, North 8 and
Havemeyer St., Williamsburg, in Williamsburg/ Greenpoint, Brooklyn [offsite link]
Famous for the dancing procession of the
Giglio (a huge
tower with a statute of Mary and an eight piece band on it) through the streets.
- Halloween,
(Greenwich Village) [David Earle, Stephanie Fike, and Michael Galkoski]
- Relics and Preserved Bodies of Saints in New York
- Mother Cabrini Shrine,
Washington Heights [Jennifer McCabe]
Mother Cabrini was an important figure in bringing aid to poor immigrants in New York. Her
body, without its head, is, as far as we can establish so far, the only full body of a
saint on public display in New York.
- Pieces of the True Cross in New York
The True Cross had an exciting career after its "invention" in the fourth
century. There are several pieces in New York, including the Bronx [[If you know of more,
email Paul Halsall, halsall@murray.fordham.edu]
- St. Patrick's Cathedral, Fifth Avenue @ E. 50th St.
- St. Vincent Ferrar, Lexington Ave @ E. 65th St
- St. Helena's Church, The Bronx.
- Old St. John's,
Fordham University Church [Dan Venturi] - has relics of Jesuit North American
Martyrs, [This is the same page as that for Fordham Church, listed under Gothic
Architecture]
- St. Vincent Ferrar [Tim McHale]- has relics of St. Vincent, all Dominican saints, St. Anne, St. Theresa, St.
Bernadette of Lourdes, and St. Paul of the Cross. and a piece of the True Cross [This
is the same page as that for St. Vincent Ferrar, listed under Gothic Architecture]
- Medieval Religious Orders with New York Houses
- Benedictines
- Franciscans [Ian Trammell]
- Dominicans [Tim McHale]
[This is the same page as that for St. Vincent Ferrar, listed under Gothic
Architecture]
- Augustinians
- Enclosed Monastaries
MEDIEVAL NON-CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY
- Monophysites
- Armenian
Orthodoxy in NYC [Oster], [descended from 5th century
"Monophysites"]
- The Coptic Church [descended from 5th century "Monophysites"]
- St George Coptic Orthodox
Church, 38-25 31st Street, Astoria, N.Y., 11101 [offsite link]
- St. Mary and St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox Church, 606 Woodward Ave., Ridgewood, Queens.
- Resurrection Catholic Coptic Church, 328 14th St, Brooklyn
- The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
St. Mary of Zion Church, 140 W. 176th St. Bronx
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Western Non-Catholics
- Waldensianism in
New York [Paul Halsall]
The First Waldensian Church of New York, 127 East 82d Street, (now Congregation Or Zarua).
The building is non-descript, but has a fascinating history. See also
First Presbyterian Church: Sanctuary Windows which has a window dedicated to Peter Waldo as a hero of the Reformation.
- Hussites in New York
Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, 351 E. 74th St. (212) 288-6743).
Jump Back to INDEX
V. Medieval Museums
The robber barons of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have ensured that New
York has by far the finest collections of medieval art, artifacts, and documents in the
Western hemisphere. The most famous example is the Metropolitan Museum's Cloisters
collection, but that is only part of the treasure.
- The Cloisters (Metropolitan Museum of Art) [John Galligan].
You can also prepare yourself for a trip to the Cloisters by taking along this little quiz.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Avenue
-
Brooklyn Museum of Art - Medieval Collection (200 Eastern Parkway) [offsite link]
- The Frick
Collection, 5th Avenue @ E. 70th St. [Fran McCartan]
- The Pierrepoint Morgan
Library, 29 E. 36th St @ Park Avenue South. Designer: Charles McKim [Danielle
Reda and Nina V. Dzajkic]
- The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Avenue @ NE corner of 92nd Street.
See the
Medieval
Permanent Collection [offsite link]
- The Hispanic Society of America, 613 W. 155th St. @ Broadway
Contains Medieval sculptures, including tomb effigies, paintings, textiles, examples of
Muslim, Jewish and Christian art, as well as pottery shards from Italy found at one of the
sites where Columbus docked in the New World.
-
American Numismatic Society,
Fulton St. @ Broadway. [offsite link]
Has over 50,000 Medieval coins, 60,000 Islamic plus a substantial Byzantine collection.
Jump Back to INDEX
VI. Medieval Manuscript Collections
- Jewish Theological
Seminary, Broadway @ W. 120th St. [Aaron Herman]
The collection at JTSA is perhaps the most important collection of Jewish manuscripts, and
microfilms, in the world.
- The Pierpont Morgan
Library, 29 E. 36th St @ Park Aveneue South. Designer: Charles McKim
[Danielle Reda and Nina V. Dzajkic]
- New York Public Library
- Columbia University Library
- Fordham University
Library [Jennifer Owens]
Fordham has only a few late MSS, but has extensive facsimile collections.
- New York University Library
Jump Back to INDEX
VII. Medieval Art and Music
- Gregorian Chant
in New York [Laura Aquaviva and Sofia Diana]
-
Corpus Christi
Church, 529 West 121th St @ Broadway [offsite link]
The building is neo-classical, but the
choir at the 11.15 am
Sunday mass has the longest tradition of liturgical chant and polyphonic music in New York.
It is composed of professional singers (which is rare in Catholic churches).
- Polyphony.com [offsite link]
A websote devoted to performances of medieval, Renaissance and baroque music in
New York City.
Jump Back to INDEX
VIII. Medieval Studies in the New York Area
- Brooklyn College
- Columbia University
- Fordham
- Hunter College
- Queens College - Byzantine Studies
- New York University
Medieval Interest Groups in New York
- Medieval Club of New York
- Society for Creative Anachronism [offsite link]
The SCA is a medieval re-enactment club. [The link is to SCA's main website, from
where New York groups can be accessed. There are apartments in New York with enough armor
to slay several dragons.]
Jump Back to INDEX
IX. Medieval People
There are not any Medieval people in New York, although there are many who are
fairly "Gothic". There are, however, statues of Medieval People scattered around
the city.
Jump Back to INDEX
LEGAL NOTICE
Medieval New York was created as a series of class projects by students of
Paul Halsall at Fordham University, Fall 1996-Spring 1998. Text, layout and images were
the work of the students, HTML by Paul Halsall.
Medieval New York describes as a group the various buildings and institutions
which reflect the continuing impact of medieval art and life on the people and fabric of
New York city. In no case are any of the student web pages to be taken as official
productions or publications of either Fordham University, or the churches and institutions
which are often the subjects.
In creating Medieval New York students were responsible for securing permissions
to take photographs. The images and text of each page are copyright to the students
involved and may not be reproduced off this site.
Since each and every student web page is linked to this main index page, it is a
sufficient guide to the copyrights and claims made about the individual pages.
Last updated March 20, 2007
This text is part of the Internet
Medieval Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use.
© Paul Halsall, January 1999
ihsp@fordham.edu
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
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providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 15 November 2024 [CV]
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