Caroline Walker Bynum

Caroline Walker Bynum, Professor Emerita in the School of Historical Studies, joined the Institute Faculty in 2003. Her work has created the paradigm for the study of women’s piety that dominates the field of medieval Christianity today and helped propel the history of the body into a major area of premodern European studies. Her recent work is a radical reinterpretation of the nature of Christianity on the eve of the reformations of the sixteenth century. She is currently working on medieval devotional objects in comparative perspective.

Through the eyes of Maureen C. Miller, Elizabeth and J. Richardson Dilworth Member (2021) in the School of Historical Studies, explore the groundbreaking work of Caroline Walker Bynum, Professor Emerita in the School, whose scholarship has transformed medieval religious objects into central, influential players in understanding Christian devotion.