Charles B. McClendon’s book The Origins of Medieval Architecture: Building in Europe, A.D. 600-900 has won the 2007 Otto Gründler Prize sponsored by Western Michigan University.

Presented at the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies, the Otto Gründler Prize is awarded to the author of a book or monograph judged by the selection committee as an outstanding contribution to the field. It has become a major international prize for scholarship in the area of medieval studies. The Medieval’s Institute’s Congress attracts some 3,000 scholars from around the globe to Western Michigan University each May, making it one of the largest medieval studies events in the world. For more details on this year’s 42nd annual Congress and The Medieval Institute, please click here.

Published by Yale University Press, The Origins of Medieval Architecture: Building in Europe, A.D. 600-900 draws on rich documentary evidence and archaeological data, demonstrating that medieval Romanesque and Gothic churches owe much more to the architectural achievements of the Early Middle Ages than has been thought. Charles B. McClendon, a distinguished historian of architecture, examines the transformation of the Early Christian basilica from 600 to 900 A.D. McClendon is the author of The Imperial Abbey of Farfa: Architectural Currents of the Early Middle Ages, also published by Yale University Press.