To begin to remedy this shortcoming, the papers presented in this panel will continue Lears’s project by interrogating how Americans have used “the medieval” to confront the uncertainties of their modern moment. The topics of our panel range explore the contested production of medieval history, from roughly the Gilded Age to WWII. They identify the different ways the distant past has been theorized and crafted for modern purposes and audiences and the stakes of those discussions.

Understanding how the medieval past has been used politically in the past helps us to understand how it is being used for political ends in the present. This panel is a unique opportunity to bring historians of the Middle Ages and Modern America together to share our unique skill sets to grapple with the purpose and significance of historical study.