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Author:   Jitske Jasperse (Ramón y Cajal Researcher, The Spanish National Research Council, Madrid)
Publisher:   Arc Humanities Press
Imprint:   Arc Humanities Press
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9781802703504

ISBN 10:   1802703500
Pages:   270
Publication Date:   31 May 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Introduction. ""Some Reflections on the Social Lives of Rings,"" by Jitske Jasperse Chapter 1. ""Haptic Histories: The Social Life of Rings in French Late Medieval Inventories and Testaments,"" by Mariah Proctor-Tiffany Chapter 2. ""Archaeological Evidence of Later Medieval and Early Modern Finger-Rings in Britain: Rings, Experiences, and Emotions,"" by Eleanor R. Standley Chapter 3. ""Changing Hands: On the Uses, Meaning, and Circulation of Rings Amongst the Iberian Nobility from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Century,"" by Inés Calderón Medina Chapter 4. ""A Sign of Women’s Power: Signet Rings in Medieval Rus,"" by Christian Raffensperger Chapter 5. ""The Social Use of Rings Among the Muslims of al-Andalus,"" by Ana Labarta Chapter 6. ""As a Seal or a Sign: Bishops’ Rings and their Metaphors,"" by Juliette Calvarin Chapter 7. ""Authenticating the Rings of the 'Nine Holy Bishops': Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, from Modern to Medieval Contexts,"" by Therese Martin Chapter 8. “'Certainly a Very Fine Object': Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, Collectors of Jewellery and Wealth in the Twentieth Century,"" by Elizabeth McCord Epilogue. ""Inside the Vitrine: Rings in Museums Today,"" by Sandra Hindman

Reviews

Although historic rings frequently served as a social currency and as personal expressions of status, research on these functions is often complicated by an absence of evidence identifying owners and makers as well as stylistic continuities across time and space. Yet recent scholarship has emphasised the potential of these precious objects to illuminate aspects of female agency, dynastic self-fashioning, global material networks and affective expression. This volume builds on and extends that scholarship, setting out to deepen our understanding of how, as intimate sartorial accessories and signs of authority, rings could operate as portable instruments of devotion, allegiance and power. [T]he collection as a whole is rich and stimulating. Jasperse and her contributors have assembled a treasure-trove of case-studies that whet the appetite for further consideration. It illuminates not only the multifaceted meanings of these diminutive objects but also the complex interplay between material culture, identity and meaning-making in the medieval world. -- Stella Wisgrill * The Burlington Magazine 168 (February 2026): 179-80 * In her introduction to the essay collection, The Social Lives of Medieval Rings, the editor, Jitske Jasperse, invites readers to take in the eight contributions “individually” (27). She also suggests that the book as a whole “argues” for “more nuanced stories” about how rings were crafted and forged connections among people. Given the geographical, chronological, and methodological disparities in the essays, the former way of engaging with the book (dipping into it to consult a specific case study) by specialists interested in (say) early modern Galician saints’ cults, or Depression-era American antiquity collections, or Islamic Anadalusi signets, will likely prevail. However, anyone who plows through all 250-odd pages of text will certainly emerge with a more sophisticated appreciation for the use of rings in western Eurasian cultures after Roman hegemony. And just the book’s abundant, well-labelled, and high-quality images would be enough to make the effort worthwhile. -- Paolo Squatriti * The Medieval Review (2026): 2026.03.09 *

Although historic rings frequently served as a social currency and as personal expressions of status, research on these functions is often complicated by an absence of evidence identifying owners and makers as well as stylistic continuities across time and space. Yet recent scholarship has emphasised the potential of these precious objects to illuminate aspects of female agency, dynastic self-fashioning, global material networks and affective expression. This volume builds on and extends that scholarship, setting out to deepen our understanding of how, as intimate sartorial accessories and signs of authority, rings could operate as portable instruments of devotion, allegiance and power. [T]he collection as a whole is rich and stimulating. Jasperse and her contributors have assembled a treasure-trove of case-studies that whet the appetite for further consideration. It illuminates not only the multifaceted meanings of these diminutive objects but also the complex interplay between material culture, identity and meaning-making in the medieval world. -- Stella Wisgrill * The Burlington Magazine 168 (February 2026): 179-80 *

Author Information

Jitske Jasperse is Ramón y Cajal Researcher at the Spanish National Research Council, Madrid. She has written two books, including Medieval Women, Material Culture, and Power (2020) and edited a special issue of Das Mittelalter. Her articles have appeared widely.

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