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| Saturday, May 5th, 2012 | 9:36 pm
[silverwhistle]
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Commemorating Conrad...
To commememorate Conrad, whose anniversary was last weekend (28 April - 820 years!), and distract myself from ongoing health problems, I treated myself to a 12C Byzantine bronze ring. It fits the 3rd finger of my left hand. ;-D Current Mood:  chipper | | Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 | 11:24 pm
[silverwhistle]
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Sailing to Byzantium
A couple of interesting sites for those of us with an Eastern orientation: Byzantium Novum: the Roman Empire reborn as a 'microstate' with online presence! (But surely Montferrat was the last successor state? The Palaeologos dynasty ruled it into the 16C, when they intermarried with the Gonzagas!) Byzantine Paganism: because they're not all as Orthodox as they look... Current Mood: amused | | Sunday, April 15th, 2012 | 11:27 pm
[silverwhistle]
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Easter at the Holy Sepulchre
Here's a stunning photo of the interior of the Holy Sepulchre during Orthodox Easter today! I've also been finding out a bit more about the old lady whose visit created the Jerusalem tourist pilgrim trail: Helena, an ex-barmaid from Asia Minor who seems to have instilled in her son a long-standing antipathy towards his father's legitimate second family, and encouraged him to execute his wife (with a damnatio memoriae on her, so we don't really know why...). The Constantinians are a right nasty lot, bar one. Ironically, however, Helena and her son Constantine are 'Saints Equal to the Apostles'; while Julian, son of Constantine's half-brother, and the sort of bright, bookish, virtuous boy you could imagine having wonderful conversations with over coffee, is 'the Apostate' or 'Transgressor' (but 'the Philosopher' to his friends). He had an interest in Jerusalem, too: he intended to rebuild the Temple. Sadly, he copped a lance-wound in the side on a campaign against the Persians in 363, and, to quote Swinburne, "the world has grown grey" ever since... Current Mood: amused | | Sunday, April 1st, 2012 | 11:38 am
[historienne]
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Crusaders in "Warrior Graveyard": Baldwin IV gets a cameo appearance
This television series is a look at historical forensics during battles around the world and throughout history. This particular episode deals with the fall of Chastelet, the castle at Jacob's Ford during the reign of Baldwin IV in 1179. Like the Timewatch programme in the UK, they examine skeletal remains of men and horses in the great debacle. Dr. Piers Mitchell, who was in Timewatch and who wrote the analysis of Baldwin's leprosy, was not featured. Jonathan Phillips is a commentator. Still, Baldwin IV gets his appearance in the programme. Some brief scenes with him to show his commitment to his God-given charge as Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. Of note is the first scene, when Baldwin is meeting with members of the Knights Templar, his strong arms at Montgisard. The scene shows the young king--at 17--wrapped in a gauze kerchief...and what appears to be a "Kingdom of Heaven"-like metal mask. (Is this now the convention for Baldwin IV in movies?) Then there is the silhouetted figure of a woman who goes behind him and gently caresses his kerchief and shoulder! She is later handing him a quill into his bandaged hands to sign a document, no doubt commissioning the building of Chastelet for the Templars. That would have to be his devoted mother, Agnes de Courtenay! Just a split second of a scene, but I appreciated the historical note! Here is a link to this episode. Baldwin appears at about 11:00 of the episode, which is shown here in its 48:00 minute entirety: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gHmlM_YtJE | | Friday, March 30th, 2012 | 10:48 am
[historienne]
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| | Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 | 12:52 pm
[syntinen_laulu]
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Writing off medieval women as “arrogant” and "infatuated"
Did anyone here watch the first episode of Helen Castor’s BBC4 series ‘She-Wolves’, about English medieval queens, last Wednesday? http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01bgpm7/SheWolves_Englands_Early_Queens_Matilda_and_EleanorI found it interesting to see an avowedly feminist take on Matilda, and the problem she faced in trying to create the role of queen regnant, previously unheard-of in England. It is an indictment of male medieval historians in general that so many of them, right up to the present day, have taken 12th-century chroniclers’ accounts of her ‘arrogance’ at face value. As Castor said, if Matilda hadn’t abandoned the ‘modest gait and bearing proper to the gentle sex’, she wouldn’t have got far as a ruler. A parallel case, to my mind, is the way historians have dumbly repeated the chroniclers’ assessment of Constance of Antioch’s choice of Reynaud de Chatillon as a second husband in 1153. Naturally, for a 12th century male writer, it was axiomatic that any woman who refused her male relative and overlord’s choice of husband for her by could only be acting out of sensuality and infatuation; but considering what a high opinion her kinsmen Aimery I, Baldwin IV and Raymond of Tripoli all had of his military talents, you’d think a modern historian might at least consider the possibility that she valued the same qualities in him that they did? [Cross-posted to plantagenesta] | 12:48 pm
[syntinen_laulu]
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Posh and not-so-posh colours for medieval textiles
A while back we had discussion about medieval fabric dyes. if I remember rightly, the question asked was whether a peach-coloured gown would have been likely in Jerusalem court circles, and we agreed no: in the Middle Ages strong vivid colours, being the most expensive, were always the most prestigious and desirable. Historic Enterprises, admirable Californian merchants of all things medieval, have just introduced a new product to their range: packs of coloured embroidery wool hand-dyed with six different traditional natural dyes – in three different grades. - One selection of wools is dyed using the ‘First Bath’ of the dyestuff, and the colours produced are rich and vibrant. (They would be even more vibrant in silk, which takes dye more vividly than wool.) - The second selection, dyed in the ‘Second Bath’ are reasonably clear colours. - The third is in so-called‘ Exhaust’ colours, obtained from a third use of the dye batch, which are mere watercolour-washes compared to the first dyeing. http://historicenterprises.com/the-colours-of-medieval-europe-master-collection-p-1433.html?cPath=102_174I’m not suggesting anyone buys the wool (though it looks very nice, if wool embroidery is your thing), but it’s worth clicking just to see the photograph of the product on their site. It’s a lesson in the clear correlation of colourfulness and cost in medieval textiles – no matter how well blush pink or pale primrose suited your complexion, you just wouldn’t wear them if the message they shouted to onlookers was “this woman can’t afford the best!” | | Monday, February 20th, 2012 | 12:12 am
[historienne]
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History programme to air in the U.S. 20 FEB 2012, Monday: "Going Medieval"
A new 2-hour programme will air in the U.S. on History Channel 2 on Monday, 20 Feb 2012, called "Going Medieval," with host historian and author Mike Loades. The expression "going Medieval" in modern slang parlance means to be excessively violent with someone or something, similar to the expression "going postal." Mike has been seen on numerous historical programmes featuring Medieval warfare, weapons, armour and history. This is so refreshing as so many TV shows now on knights and suchlike are filled with choreography, posturing and rubbish, not so much different from those dinner shows with a choreographed "joust," and the attempts at "authentic" armour is more costume than scholarship. Don't let Mike's surly expression on the Web site fool you. Mike is as affable as he is knowledgeable! If you are in the U.S. please check your local listings, as this should be a refreshingly accurate take on Medieval warfare. http://www.mikeloades.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=4&Itemid=17 | | Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 | 1:31 pm
[historienne]
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| | Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 | 9:33 pm
[silverwhistle]
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Somewhat peeved with Asbridge #2
We've gone straight from the Melisande Psalter (gorgeous!) to Hattin, as far as the Franks are concerned. Nothing on Tyre or Conrad so far: it's all bloody Richard and Saladin... Update @ 21.47: Acre has fallen to the Franks – and still no Conrad. How the hell can anyone cover the Third Crusade without him? Current Mood:  annoyed | | Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 | 5:55 pm
[syntinen_laulu]
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Tom Asbridge has a documentary series on BBC2!
It's called simply The Crusades, and there are three weekly episodes starting tomorrow night at 9.30. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b3fpw. It's not only fronted but written by him. It should be really good; I heard a radio interview with him ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00n5c1p) in which among other things he described being allowed to handle the actual manuscript of Baha al-Din's account of Hattin; he was fairly fizzing with enthusiasm. For those of you who can't get BBC programmes, nil desperandum; give it time and it'll certainly turn up on YouTube, the History Channel, or both. | | Thursday, November 17th, 2011 | 9:49 pm
[historienne]
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| | Thursday, October 27th, 2011 | 5:50 pm
[syntinen_laulu]
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Hospitaller arms & armour found!
The Hospitallers had a major fortress near Baniyas which they called Margat and the Arabs called al-Marqab; in 1285 it fell to the Mamluks who took it over. In recent years there have been major excavations at Margat/Marqab by a joint Syrian-Hungarian team and very fruitful they have been too: among other things, in 2009 they reported that in the chapel (which the Mamluks naturally turned into a mosque) they had found 12th-century murals of the last Judgement. Discussion here. Now, all that was interesting enough, but last week a good friend of mine, head of conservation at the Wallace Collection in London (one of the most important arms and armour collections in the world) was at an arms & armour conference in Budapest and sat next to a metal conservator from the University of Cardiff who he says was absolutely fizzing with excitement about Marqab. He said that the archaeologists found a passageway from the chapel that the Mamluks had blocked up, having no use for, which has just been opened up and turns out, Dave says, to be full of 13th-century armour and weaponry! Both European and Turkish, he says, and in excellent condition. Of course very few objects like this survive from the 13th century, even fewer of which have a known origin: so a whole cache of material precisely provenanced to a specific place and date is mind-blowingly important to the study of the subject as a whole. Dave says the Syrian/Hungarian team had only just called in Cardiff (which has one of the world's top metal conservation labs) on finding this material, so this is really hot news, not yet published anywhere. So, let’s all watch out for news of that discovery to be published! I see that there was a whole exhibition about the Marqab excavations in Pecs last year, so I’m sure there will be a whole lot more about Marqab published in Hungary . It seems likely that the news about this latest find will be published first in Hungarian newspapers/journals/blogs. Perhaps the Hungarian Oltramarines can keep a lookout on behalf of the group? | | Saturday, October 15th, 2011 | 3:57 pm
[syntinen_laulu]
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Forthcoming book - 'The First Crusade: the Call from the East' by Peter Frankopan
There was a long piece about it in yesterday's Times - which was evidently taken straight from a press release or press agency since it appears word for word in The Australian, here: Now, WTF is that all about? Surely everybody has been in agreement for generations that the First Crusade started when Alexios Komnenos asked for help in dealing with the Turks who were munching away at his Anatolian provinces, not because of anything happening in or near Jerusalem. Whatever is new, fresh of "the missing piece of the puzzle" about Frankopan's book, it can't be that. If anyone knows anything about Frankopan and/or his book, please do post! | | Saturday, September 10th, 2011 | 2:26 pm
[syntinen_laulu]
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Forensic research on the casualties at Jacob's Ford: TV programme
A heads-up to everyone who can get British terrestrial TV or access to the Channel 4 website*: tomorrow at 8 pm they're showing an episode of the historical forensic science series "Back from the Dead" that will show what has been learned and what one can reconstruct about individuals from study of bones excavated from the site of the battle at Jacob's Ford. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/back-from-the-dead/episode-guide/series-1/episode-2. I saw the first programme in the series, which was about Nelsonian-period skeletons from the graveyards of Royal Naval hospitals, and it was extremely interesting. I have one big gripe about it, which was that - unless there was more evidence that they couldn't be bothered or hadn't time to spell out, which is of course quite possible - roles aboard ship were attributed to individual skeletons on wholly inadequate evidence. (Not every man killed by falling from the mast was necessarily a topman, and certainly a man who got his jaw sliced in two by a cutlass wasn't necessarily or even probably a marine.) But it was well worth the watching (n.b. it's still available to watch at Channel 4 for 24 more days) and I certainly won't miss the Jacob's Ford one. * And for anyone who can't: keep an eye on YouTube to see if anyone illegally posts it up! | | Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 | 12:57 am
[transemacabre]
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A resource: Academia.edu
I just discovered this, and thought someone might like it -- Academia.edu is an online respository of research papers on many different topics, including medieval history. Type in your area of interest, and go to town! I've been spending the evening reading about the Selcuks and Angeloi during the period of the Fourth Crusade. :) | | Saturday, August 27th, 2011 | 8:16 pm
[silverwhistle]
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| 8:08 pm
[silverwhistle]
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Article accepted
Good news: my article on Runciman and Conrad has finally been accepted by the St As Mediæval Journal! It should appear in the New Year. Current Mood: cheerful | | Friday, July 15th, 2011 | 3:37 pm
[syntinen_laulu]
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Pogrom in 13th-century Norwich
The BBC is currently running a series called "History Cold Case" in each episode of which top forensic scientists at the University of Dundee are asked to investigate human remains from an archaeological find as though they were modern unexplained deaths. It's an interesting series, but the detective-series format, in which the "mystery" doesn't get "solved" until the end of the programme can be pretty irritating, as the team pretend ignorance of things they couldn't possibly not know. Last night's programme, "The Bodies in the Well", was particularly bad in this respect: it concerned 17 skeletons, adults and children of all ages, found a year ago (with a quantity of cats) head-first at the bottom of a well in Norwich, with no signs of overt violence. Now, as soon as the carbon-14 date came up as 13th century, surely anyone with the most passing knowledge of the history of Norwich, or the 13th century, or the Jews in England would have instantly said to themselves "A pogrom?" But the head of the Norwich archaeological unit was required to claim with a straight face that he couldn't think of any explanation for who those skeletons could possibly have been or why they were there, and the Cold Case Team had to go around solemnly interviewing experts on medieval burial practices to "find out" whether chucking corpses head-first down wells was a normal burial technique during epidemics. OK, it was really fascinating to learn that strontium analysis proved that all these people had lived locally all their lives, and that of 7 individuals - adults and children - from whose bones DNA could be extracted 5 were not only closely related but were almost certainly Ashkenazi Jews. A local historian pointed out that the Jews of Norwich were under the direct protection of the king - which was why the Jewish quarter was huddled right under the royal castle - but that in 1230 the king's authority had so broken down in the city (why? The programme didn't bother to say) that royal officers were being beaten up in the streets; the inference being that the populace took the opportunity to kill a whole lot of the local Jews and (although this wasn't said) that the times were so unsettled that the slaughter of around 10% of the entire community went unnoticed or at least unrecorded.But it was a bit much, when all this reported to the "community" - local archaeologists and historians - to imply that this was shocking and revelatory. Are we really expected to believe that none of them had ever heard of Little Sir William of Norwich? | | Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 | 9:31 am
[historienne]
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"Ironclad" set for U.S. release July 26
This film has already has a wonderful critique from the keyboard of Syntinen, and the U.S. posters are already out. A movie with history as the setting, without taking into account the history. The poster features lead actor James Purefoy, and also Paul Giamatti as King John, wearing that 19th century-style helmet--seen in "Kingdom of Heaven" on the character of Richard I, and the remake of "Robin Hood" with Russell Crowe, worn by...the character of King John--the bascinet ringed with a coronet. The tagline on the poster reads: "Heavy metal goes medieval." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1233301/ |
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