As Alfred (r. 871 – 899) led the remnants of his gathered followers into the Somerset fens in 878, it was unlikely that the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ […]
Easter in Athelney – King Alfred and the Great Viking Army
King Eadwig, St Dunstan, and the Ménage à Trois – Propaganda in the Early English Court
King Eadwig inherited the throne of Wessex in 955 at age fourteen. Like any fourteen year-old given unlimited power, he proceeded to live it up. In four short years on the throne […]
Wicked Queens and Martyred Kings – the 819 Murder of S. Kenelm of Mercia
Killed by his sister Cwoenthryth in 819, King Kenelm of Mercia – a lad of a mere seven years – spent less than a year on his throne before meeting a martyr’s […]
Edward I’s Welsh Castles: A Conquest Set in Stone
Any journey to Europe to visit medieval castles is incomplete without a trip to the Welsh countryside to appreciate arguably the most impressive ring of fortifications from the middle ages. Edward’s imposing […]
Viking Identity & Christianity – The Performed Violence of Olaf Tryggvason
Olaf I Tryggvason took the throne of Norway in 995, reigning for a brief but eventful five years. Though Olaf had been a pagan Viking raider, by the time he took the […]
Manuscript Archives (2): Lambeth Palace Library
Lambeth Palace is the London seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the records centre for the Church of England. Thus its focus and strength as an archive is post-Reformation documentation relating […]
Wicked Queens and Martyred Kings – the 978 Assassination of Edward the Martyr
Ascending to the throne of England in 975 upon the death of his father, Edgar the Peaceable, Edward the Martyr is primarily remembered for being assassinated after only three years on the […]
Conference Review – ANZAMEMS, Wellington NZ
Nearly a week has passed since the conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (ANZAMEMS) at Victoria University, Wellington, NZ. This means I have now […]
The Battle of Crécy: The Language of Froissart and Tactics versus Etymology
Any true medieval warfare enthusiast undoubtedly knows of the battles of the Hundred Years War; Crécy, Poitiers, Agincourt, and possibly the smaller or less celebrated engagements such as my personal favourite – […]
The Black Friary, Trim Ireland (2) – The Irish Archaeological Field School
Applications are open for the 2018 Spring program An essential skill within the field of history is critical analysis. Historians apply critical reading skills to primary source texts and to secondary analyses […]
The Black Friary, Trim Ireland (1) – The Irish Archaeological Field School
Applications are open for the 2018 Spring program I am a historian, not an archaeologist, yet here I am at the Irish Archaeological Field School (IAFS), excavating a medieval friary in Trim, […]
Manuscript Archives (1): Trinity College Dublin
There is little I enjoy more than getting my hands on a centuries-old piece of vellum and researching the written records of the medieval world. For me this almost always takes the […]
Here goes nothing…
So the time has finally arrived to get the ball rolling and introduce this little history blog to the world – well, a tiny part of it anyway.
The Postgrad Chronicles 