About

Dr. Claussen is a medieval European historian.  His research deals with violence, religion, and chivalry in medieval Castile and its place in the wider Mediterranean and western European worlds.  Dr. Claussen works to understand the ideas of knights and men-at-arms in the medieval world through an examination of traditional historical sources such as chronicles, treatises, and the records of central government, but also through literary and imaginative sources such as frontier ballads, poetry, and chivalric romance.

Education

Ph.D., History - University of Rochester, 2015

         Research Field: Medieval Europe

         Teaching Fields: Modern China, Early Modern History of Science

M.A., Historical Studies - University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 2008

B.A., History and Political Science - Western State College of Colorado, 2006

Expertise

Medieval Europe

Knights and Chivalry

Violence

Lived Religion

Publications

“Chivalric and Religious Valorization of Warfare in High Medieval France.”  In Prowess, Piety, and Public Order in Medieval Society: Studies in Honor of Richard Kaeuper, edited by Craig Nakashian and Daniel Franke.  Leiden: Brill, 2017, 199-217.

“Royal Punishment and Reconciliation in Trastámara Castile” in Treason: Medieval and Early Modern Treachery, Betrayal and Shame, ed. Larissa Tracy.  Leiden: Brill, 2019, 100-118.

“Chivalric Violence” with Peter Sposato in Companion to Chivalry, ed. Robert Jones and Peter Coss (Boydell & Brewer), Forthcoming, Summer 2019.

Grant Funding

California Lutheran University's Faculty and Research and Creative Work Grant - 2016

Hewlett Grant for Academic Travel and Research - 2017, 2018

Experiential Learning Through the History of Food (California Lutheran University) - 2017-2018