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 had time to process what was a stimulating, challenging, fun and mildly exhausting week, and have prepared a few thoughts. The nature of conferences of this size (there were 230 odd delegates) is that you attend a varied range of papers and the majority have little to do with your normal period or topic of study. This is very satisfying. It is nice to escape your own niche in the world of history and appreciate the breadth of work that is being done by other medieval or early modern scholars. Continue reading Conference Review – ANZAMEMS, Wellington NZ
The Battle of Crécy and the Language of Froissart – Tactics and Etymology in Medieval Military History
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 – Auberoche. The infamous exploits of the French, and the usually outnumbered English, have been well documented by historians over the years – but even today, the debates rage on. Continue reading The Battle of Crécy and the Language of Froissart – Tactics and Etymology in Medieval Military History
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 both, but often accept the content of archaeological reports without serious investigation. I believe this is largely as a product of necessity as the archaeological skill-set is not one normally taught within history syllabi. So I was pretty pleased this week that I got involved with the messy technical detail of planning, excavating, and cataloguing that enable archaeologists to build their conclusions. Which said, onto the second week of the IAFS two-week program, the adventures of the week, and what I have learned in my time at Trim (aside from the fact that potatoes go with everything). Continue reading The Black Friary, Trim Ireland (2) – The Irish Archaeological Field School
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, County Meath, Ireland. Traditionally historians and archaeologists have tended to remain aloof from one another, but this is a perception that is changing and changing rapidly. So I want to explain why I am here before going on to talk a little about the program and this week’s adventures. Continue reading The Black Friary, Trim Ireland (1) – The Irish Archaeological Field School
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 form of twelfth- and thirteenth-century Anglo-Latin manuscripts, which takes me into the wonderful, varied and frequently frustrating world of manuscript archives. Even the most seasoned researcher, upon wandering into a new archive, can be surprised by the foibles and odd rules specific to that institution, Continue reading Manuscript Archives (1): Trinity College Dublin
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. Continue reading Here goes nothing…
