Learning by doing or expert knowledge? Technological innovations in dike-building in coastal Flanders (13th-18th centuries AD)
Dike construction apparently uses simple technology, with slow and gradual change; not the kind of technology that reshaped the material conditions of living, comparable to the spread of electricity or sanitation in the 19th century ‘networked’ city (and linked to the disciplining of society and the rise of domesticity and the modern self-reflexive individual) (often inspired by Latour and Foucault).
Sylvia Plath’s Use of Dantean Structure
Many people have remarked on the genius of Sylvia Plath’s poetry. However, it has come to my attention that Plath has been grossly misunderstood by her critics, such as the famous critic, Harold Bloom who left Plath out of his book The Western Canon.
Doing a PhD in Middle-earth
In this paper, I show how The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien can be viewed as an extended allegory for any challenging and arduous human endeavour, and in particular for tackling and completing a PhD.
The Black Death, Economic and Social Change and the Great Rising of 1381 in Hertfordshire
What drove medieval people to such desperation that they felt they had no other course of action other than revolt? Was this a spontaneous reaction to a perceived injustice or a desperate response to years of simmering resentment?
Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources completed after 100 years
After over 58,000 entries, 3830 pages and seventeen volumes, the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources is now finished.
Ancient and Medieval Climate Change and the Future of Humanity
Some examples of recent scientific and historical investigations of ancient and medieval climate demonstrate the power of combining scientific and traditional historical evidence.
Decentering history: local stories and cultural crossing in a global world
Natalie Zemon Davis’ lecture at the 2010 Ludwig Holberg Prize Symposium
Scottish Monastic Life
The first thing one has to remember is that most of these visible symbols are the symbols of the very last period of monasticism in Scotland. Monasteries in Scotland were peculiarly likely to suffer the ravages of siege and fire. If they lay on the borders or along the main routes from England into Scotland, they fell victim to the periodic invasion of the English.
St. Ninian of Whithorn
My interest here is in finding usable information regarding the centuries before Bede and in the way in which new data, especially the outstanding recent archaeological discoveries at Whithom in Wigtownshire (which is certainly the site of Candida Casal. might support and add to his picture of St. Ninian and the importance of his church at Candida Casa.
The Bones in the Soup: The Anglo-Saxon Flavour of Tolkien’s The Hobbit
By reading The Hobbit from an Anglo-Saxonist point of view, we not only learn more about what inspired Tolkien to compose his narrative, we can also highlight the enduring value of studying his original sources.
Call for Papers: The Authors, Editors and Audiences of Medieval Middle Eastern Texts
Conference to be held at the University of Cambridge on 1st-2nd September 2014
The Holy Foreskin
When I first heard about the Sanctum Praeputium I actually thought it was a joke thought up by some medievalist. Apparently some medieval people thought so too!
Digitised Diseases website allows users to see the bones of the past
Digitised Diseases, a new online resource being launched today, will offer medical experts, archaeologists and historians the chance to view over 1,600 bone specimens with chronic diseases.
Food and the North-Icelandic Identity in 13th century Iceland and Norway
Now food is becoming globalized, but we still recall how food could be used to construct a national identity, with the aid of the institutions of the national state.
Tooth-tool Use and Yarn Production in Norse Greenland
During a dental study of medieval Norse skeletons from Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, a distinct pattern of wear was observed on twenty-two anterior teeth of twelve Greenlanders.
The Enigma of the Picts
The Picts are the first chapter in Scottish history. Indeed, they are really more of a foreword or a preface: for it is only with their merger with the kingdom of Scotti of Dalriada (in Argyllshire) in 843 A.D. that we have a kingdom called ‘Scotland’ for the first time.
The English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381
Life for the revolutionary peasants was structured by feudal ties and obligations. The villein was tied to the soil until he could buy his freedom. He lived in a wattle and daub hut with his family and animals on a floor of mud. Work began at dawn on his few (often separated) strips of land; he was obligated to work on his lord’s land three days a week, tend and shear his sheep, feed his swine, and sow and reap his crops.
Exploring abandoned castles in France
A look at one website that documents abandoned medieval castles and other sites in France.
More than Marginal: Insects in the Hours of Mary of Burgundy
In the late fifteenth-century Hours of Mary of Burgundy, also known as the Vienna Hours, every folio is richly decorated with window scenes of religious subjects surrounded by extravagant foliage.
The Humility of Snails
Snails in medieval marginalia might be read as symbols of humility, often depicted in contrast to the prideful life of knights and warriors.
Christmas Books: Great Medieval Fiction Reads for the Christmas Holidays!
Some medieval stocking stuffers for the historians on your Christmas list!
Tremors in the Web of Trade: Complexity, Connectivity and Criticality in the Mid-Eighth Century Eurasian World
Events within a fifteen-year period in mid-eighth century Eurasia included the Abbasid revolution, An Lu-shan’s Rebellion in Tang China, and the collapse or emergence of empires from Frankish Europe to Tibet to the kingdom of Srivajaya.
Beautiful medieval wall paintings restored in Welsh church
A series of late-medieval wall paintings can now be seen again after being hidden away for hundreds of years underneath layers of limewash.
Devil Worship in the Middle Ages
Probably the most reasonable explanation of the Devil worship phenomenon at this time is a combination of both of these hypotheses. Lingering ideas of pre-Christian cults of Diana and the Homed God became entwined with the doctrine of the Catholic Church concerning evil.