Announcements
Edmund of Canterbury
The Kunera database has a badge with an unidentified bishop. The text below is corrupted to such an extent that it is no longer legible. Still, the badge gives some indications about the identity of the depicted saint. He may be Edmund of Canterbury or Edme as he is known in France where is venerated.
Peter of Lézan
The Kunera database contains many badges of Saint Peter. The provenance of two very comparable badges depicting the apostle was for a long time unknown however. On the basis of two other badges, found in Arles and Avignon, the other two can now be identified as souvenirs from Lézan in the French department Gard (arr. Alès).
Flight into Egypt
A collection of badges in the national museum of Prag has been part of the Kunera database for quite a while now. In 2012 the collection was published in a beautiful catalog called 'Jungfrauen, Engel, Fallustiere'. Publication however does not mean that we cannot elaborate on these badges with new information every now and then.
Susanna of Rome in Brittany
Nothing is known of pilgrimages to Susanna, but a mould suggests that there was a pilgrimage cult of Susanna in the abbey of Le Mont-Saint-Michel. The mould shows an image of a female saint veiled and holding a book. Underneath her feet there is an inscription in French that has been interpreted as SAINTE DUCANNE and the woman subsequently as duchess Anne of Brittany. This seems unlikely however, because the duchess was never sanctified nor was there ever any claim for her beatification or sanctification after she died. It is more likely that the inscription reads SAINTE SUSANNE.
900 new badges and ampullae
In March 2024, Kunera was updated. This means that data of 900 new badges and ampullae are made available online. Additionally, 90 cult sites do now have a description giving even more background information on the cult landscape of medieval Europe.
Medieval Ritual Landscape
Kunera participates in the international research project 'The Medieval Ritual Landscape: Archaeology, Material Culture and Lived Religion'. The project is a collaboration between the University of Reading and the British Museum. It starts April this year and will last for three years.
Badges in world history
For the Dutch book Nog meer wereldgeschiedenis van Nederland [More World History of the Netherlands], Hanneke van Asperen wrote a contribution about the year 1382. Then, the miracles happened that started to attract pilgrims to 's-Hertogenbosch and the mass production of some fascinating badges commenced.
Symposium on September 29
You may register for the Kunera symposium on September 29!
Symposium Kunera and Badge Research
At last we can officially demonstrate the new Kunera website on Thursday 29 September. The new application is also an occasion to present recent badge research.
New badges in Kunera
Recently Kunera included 6.000 objects from the documentation of Hendrik Jan van Beuningen. The data is now online for everyone to search and browse. Hendrik Jan van Beuningen's lifework and its meaning for Kunera will be the center of attention during a symposium on Thursday 29 September.
New publication - Geleefd Geloof [Lived Faith]
Recently Walburg Pers published a book on medieval Frisia, a region in the Low Countries comprising the current provinces of Groningen and Friesland. For this book, Jos Koldeweij wrote about pilgrims’ badges and ampullae.
New publication Medieval Badges: Their Wearers and Their Worlds
Interdisciplinary in approach, and sumptuously illustrated with more than 115 color and black-and-white images, Medieval Badges: Their Wearers and Their Worlds introduces badges in all their variety and uses.
Silver Saints - new publication
The new book 'Silver Saints' investigates badges in medieval manuscripts. in this new publication Hanneke van Asperen studies both badges that were sewn to the pages by book owners and marginal decoration. In trompe l'oeil depictions illuminators painted badges as if they are arranged on the page.
A new Kunera website
The Kunera team is proud to present with the new web application. We hope that the website serves you as Kunera user even better than before whether you are here for (scholarly) research purposes, looking to identify a badge or out of curiosity.
Badges – Tragezeichen – Social Media des Mittelalters
In 2017, the European Hanzemuseum in Lübeck took over from Zeeuws Museum in Middelburg their successful exhibition ‘Sign of the Times. Social media van de middeleeuwen’. They retitled it ‘Pin It. Social Media des Mittelalters’. On the occasion of the exhibition, the Hanzemuseum has now published a book with articles about medieval badges.
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