Biography

Thomas Maurer is a sixth year PhD student studying medieval Italy. His focus is on prophecies about Italian cities during the wars between Frederick II (d. 1250) and the papacy. During the conflict, Italians established an apocalyptic identity in the face of imminent destruction at the hands of either imperial or papal forces. Using the apocalyptic theories of Abbot Joachim of Fiore (d. 1202), local Italians wrote pseudo-Joachite prophecies to place their civic homes within a wider eschatological world view. Maurer currently holds the Haslam Dissertation Fellowship through the Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Research

Italy; identity; social history; prophecy; apocalypticism; exegesis; Frederick II

Education

Current, PhD candidate, University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN

2017, MA, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI

2015, BA, Christendom College, Front Royal VA