Dear Readers,

We are excited to present the Fall/Winter 2017/8 issue of Hortulus!

This issue features three articles that all engage with the theme of “Interiority and Alterity” in different ways. Julia Oswald presents a thoughtful analysis of the Sainte-Croix Triptych in “The Reliquary Triptych, the Arms of Christ, and the Visual Language of the Relic Thesaurus ca. 1160”, wherein she argues that the visual rhetoric of the treasury can be interpreted as a counterpart to the interiority of reliquaries. In “The Fortress of the Free Mind: The Contemplative Nature of Personal Liberty in Early Anglo-Saxon Monasticism”, William Tanner Smoot examines interiority in the context of the individual’s spiritual autonomy and the maintenance of inner contemplative conditions in Aldhelm of Malmesbury’s prose De Virginitate and the Vitae of Sts. Guthlac and Cuthbert. Finally, Elijah Wallace’s article, “Imperium et Credo: Frankish-Byzantine Rivalry over Leadership of the Roman-Christian Credo-State in the Ninth Century”, explores the political relationship between the Carolingian and Byzantine empires, using Louis II’s 871 letter to Basil I as a focal point.

In addition, we have two book reviews in this issue: Heidi Synnøve Djuve reviews The Eufemiavisor and Courtly Culture: Time, Texts and Cultural Transfer, edited by Olle Ferm, Ingela Hedström, Sofia Lodén, Jonatan Pettersson and Mia Åkestam; and Beñat Elortza Larrea reviews Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist’s Kungamakten och lagen. En jämförelse mellan Danmark, Norge och Sverige under högmedeltiden (Kingship and Law: A Comparison between Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the High Middle Ages).

We are currently accepting submissions for our Spring/Summer 2018 open issue — submissions are due April 6. Additionally, we encourage readers who would like to review books published in Medieval Studies within the last three years to contact our Book Reviews Editor. After Easter, we will be posting calls for a Junior Co-Editor, and an Assistant Book Reviews Editor, so watch this space!

I would like to express my sincere thanks to our team for this issue: Ryan Lawrence has been a delight to work with as co-editor, and Heidi Djuve continues to perform her office as Book Reviews Editor with great professionalism. Our Assistant Editors for this issue were Crystal Beamer and Marta Simonetti, and in addition to their editorial skill, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail, they have remained flexible throughout our occasionally chaotic schedule, for which I am very grateful. Finally, my thanks to the anonymous readers who conducted our peer reviews for their insightful comments and for being the foundation upon which our editorial process builds.

Gwendolyne Knight, Hortulus Senior Co-Editor