Want to learn more about the Middle Ages and historical traveling methods? Join Johnston County Library at 6:30 PM on Thursday, October 9th, for “Shoes, Horses and Boats: Travel in the Middle Ages,” a class featuring speaker Dr. Rebecca Jacobs-Pollez. Adults ages 18 and up are welcome to attend this event.
Say you commit a serious crime. What would your punishment be? In certain medieval cities, a church court could sentence you to take a pilgrimage, to visit a famous town with a stunningly beautiful cathedral. Not the fun vacation it may sound like! Come learn some of the interesting facts about medieval travel. Dr. Rebecca Jacobs-Pollez will discuss medieval travel: the reasons, the methods, and even what happened to the body of the king if he died when he was away from the court. How far did travelers go and how did they know where to go? And what role did the Black Death play? Come learn the answers to these interesting questions (including why pilgrimage was no the fun road trip that it might seem) and much more.
Dr. Rebecca Jacobs-Pollez was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and immediately began traveling the world. Because her father was a member of the US Air Force, her family moved regularly, lived in several states, as well as France and Spain. She and her husband still enjoy traveling. As a child in France, she was awed by the beauty and grandeur of medieval Gothic architecture, which led her to study medieval history. Before earning her Ph.D., Dr. Jacobs-Pollez was an engineer at the Johnson Space Center.
Dr. Jacobs-Pollez (Dr. J-P to her students) has a BS in Mathematics and an MA in history, both from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, and a Ph.D. in European History from the University of Missouri, Columbia. Her Ph.D. advisor was Dr. Lois Huneycutt, whose advisor was Dr. Warren Hollister, which makes Dr. J-P the academic grandchild of one of the greatest medieval historians. She has published several articles, and her current research examines late medieval women’s education, women and literacy, as well as the theory and practice of medieval education. She teaches a variety of history courses at Murray State College and has taught a medieval honors course at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. She is a member of the Board of the Southern Oklahoma Library System.
For more information, you can contact the Johnston County Library at (580) 371-3006 or visit the library at 116 West Main in Tishomingo. The Johnston County Library is a branch of the Southern Oklahoma Library System.