J. MICHAEL RALEY holds the Ph. D. degree in late medieval/early modern European history
from the University
of Chicago. His
dissertation, entitled “The Devotio
moderna and Freedom of Association: A Case Study in the Medieval Theory of Rights,” uses as a point of
departure the legal struggles of the late medieval Dutch-German religious
group known as the “Modern Devout” to organize and govern their own communal
religious houses as free associations in order to explore whether, and if so in what terms, “common” people living during
the later Middle Ages may have thought about their “rights.” His current
research focuses upon the evolution of natural rights theory during the later
Middle Ages, the teaching of civil law at the University of Paris
during the period of Pope Honorius III’s ban (Super speculam,
1219-1679), the early history of Christian humanism, and interconfessionalism
during the early years of the Lutheran Reformation. Dr. Raley has received
numerous grants and awards. These include research fellowships and travel
grants from the Max-Planck-Institut für Europäische Rechtsgeschichte in
Frankfurt am Main, the American Friends of the Herzog-August-Bibliothek
(Wolfenbüttel), the Mellon Foundation, the Kunstadter Foundation, and the
Newberry Library in Chicago.
He is the co-editor of Mind and Hearts in Praise of God: Hymns and Essays in
Church Music in Honor of Hugh T. McElrath (2006). During 2008-09 he
will be on leave, teaching as a visiting assistant professor in the History
Department at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC.
