Dear Readers,

You may be experiencing déjà vu, thinking, “haven’t I already seen Hortulus publish this year?” And, indeed, you have. The last few years have seen a lot of growth at Hortulus, thanks to our devoted group of readers, peer-reviewers, and authors. This year marks the introduction not only of twice-yearly publication, but also of the rolling reviews and general interest sections, which are all part of our goals to keep our readers up-to-date on the latest publications and events in medieval studies. If you haven’t seen these new features already, take a look and subscribe to our posts.

This issue features articles by Phoebe C. Linton and Melis Taner. Phoebe C. Linton examines the role of Queen Igraine as a character in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia compared to her role in Laȝamon’s Brut. Melis Taner considers the way two illuminations in a sixteenth-century psalter, which draw their iconography and composition from prints by Israhel van Meckenem, function in the context of a liturgical manuscript made for the Brigittine order. Although their source material differs, both authors consider how a single motif changes when moved to a new context. Linton’s exploration of how readers had space to fill out Igraine’s limited textual presence and Taner’s discovery of the expanded roles played by popular prints when they were moved to private manuscripts both suggest ways of discovering the agency of medieval readers, and particularly the role gender plays in the interpretation of images and texts.

This issue also includes reviews of five recent publications. Duncan Berryman reviews Felicity Beard’s The Knights Hospitallers in Medieval Hampshire: A Calendar of the Godsfield and Baddesley Cartulary; Jenny C. Bledsoe reviews Virginia Reinburg’s French Books of Hours: Making an Archive of Prayer, c. 1400-1600; Rebecca Browett takes on Matthew Dal Santo’s Debating the Saints’ Cult in the Age of Gregory the Great; and Susan Royal looks at What is a Lollard? Dissent and Belief in Late Medieval England by Patrick Hornbeck. We also particularly want to direct your attention to Emily Goetsch’s review of Clementina Antonova’s Space, Time and Presence in the Icon: Seeing the World with the Eyes of God. Antonova published an article in the very first issue of Hortulus, so this review is an exciting chance to see how Antonova’s work on the same subject has changed since her 2005 article.

Thanks to the hard work of our new digital archivist, most of Hortulus’ back issues, including the one with Antonova’s article, are now available in pdf and e-book format as part of Hortulus’ ten-year anniversary project. We are continuing to collect stories and interviews relating to previous authors, editors, and projects. If you have any ideas or want to contribute to this project, email hortulus@hortulus-journal.com and we’ll put you in touch with the Anniversary Project Officer.

We have some exciting events coming up this spring. In May, Hortulus is sponsoring a panel at Kalamazoo for the second time, on the theme “Of Whom Shall I Be Afraid: Enemies in Middle Ages.” Some of those presentations, as well as others on the same topic, will make up our Spring 2014 publication on the theme of “Enemies in the Middle Ages. Submissions are due in February, and more details can be found at www.hortulus-journal.com. We encourage you to submit articles or propose reviews as part of this themed issue, or to start talking about things you’d like to see as themes for next year.

Beth Fischer
Hortulus co-editor