(COLUMBIA, Tenn. – July 10, 2019) - - -Dr. Anna Duch, Columbia State Community College assistant professor of history, recently published a chapter titled “Chasing St. Louis: The English Monarchy’s Pursuit of Sainthood.” 

Duch’s chapter is included in “The Routledge History of Monarchy,” a vast collection of essays examining monarchies across the world and over multiple eras.

“In the chapter I examine the efforts of the English royal house at attaining a dynastic saint; Edward the Confessor was an English royal saint, canonized in 1161, but he died childless in 1066,” Duch said. “The royal house in medieval England had no bloodline connection to their saint. The English kings were validated by the political influence of the Confessor, who chose William of Normandy as his successor. In contrast, in 1297, the French royal house achieved sainthood for Louis IX, who was the grandfather of the monarch at the time, Philippe IV. Suddenly, there was a bloodline connection and a role model in the French royal house that reflected the virtues of the day: being a moral king, being a chaste and faithful husband and going on crusade. On top of political heritage, there was also the concept that just like power, holiness flowed through the bloodline. The English wanted to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ and started to look for saints in their own house, but as I demonstrate in the essay, there were  a lot of cultural and political problems that prevented this goal from being achieved during the medieval period.”

“The Columbia State Humanities and Social Sciences Division is very proud of Dr. Anna Duch, our medieval and world history scholar, for having this chapter published,” said Dr. Victoria Gay, Columbia State dean of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division. “The target audience for this prestigious publication is that of students and academics alike, interested in such aspects of history as royal studies and political history.”

In addition, Duch recently designed an online Early World History course, and is currently in the process of crafting multiple scholarly works. 

Duch earned a bachelor’s degree from Arcadia University, a master’s degree from the University of North Texas and a Ph.D. in history from the University of York in the United Kingdom. She is affiliated with the Medieval Academy of America, the Society of the White Hart, the Society of Fourteenth Century Studiesand the Royal Studies Network.

Photo Caption: Dr. Anna Duch