Category: Uncategorized
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Obscene and Offensive Early Medieval Nicknames
FAIR WARNING – there are some naughty words below. Nicknames are not an uncommon occurence in early medieval Europe, and can be given to all ranks and classes of peoples (although, notably, female nicknames are substantially less frequent). One of the remarkable features of early medieval nicknames is their shock factor. The frequency of names…
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Beacons of the Past: Help Find a Hillfort!
This week I’d like to highlight an amazing website which has endless potential to provide both a fun passtime and contribute towards archaeology: Beacons of the Past. The project builds on a massive set of LiDAR data, covering 1400 km2 across the Chilterns. The issue is, this is a HUGE amount of data, and it’s…
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The Early Medieval Nicknames Bot
To help keep me sane during this heat, and as part of my Very Serious Research™ (read: pissing about with a dictionary and writing down the occasionally funny name), I have constructed a new Twitter bot (@botmedieval), which you can follow here. The bot feeds off my database of nicknames that I am currently in…
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‘Anglo-Saxon’ England – An Introduction
The ‘Anglo-Saxons’ inhabited what would become England following the fall of Rome, from c.410 up until the invasion of the Normans in 1066. Their lives covered some momentous social changes – the widescale (re?)adoption of Christianity, the emergence of an idea of ‘England’, invasion and occupation by the ‘Vikings’ and finally the introduction of feudalism.…
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Deconstructing the Echo Chamber – why arguing with the ridiculous is important
In my line of study, you end up coming across a broad range of very unpalatable opinions. The ‘Anglo-Saxons’ and ‘Vikings’ are tied up within a toxic popular imagination of Nationalism and White Supremacy, built partially on deliberate misinterpretation of history and mythology. Archaeology has been misused for political aims for centuries, and I have…
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The Future of Student Broadcasting
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited onto a podcast discussion group with Cherwell, Oxford University’s student newspaper. A round-table discussion with a bunch of students involved in a broad range of non-print media forms, we explored the future of broadcasting, in the country and the student community, and what we…
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Medieval Music Covers – Hildegard von Blingin’
We know remarkably little about medieval music and instruments, especially within an early medieval context. However, there seems to be a solution. Ever wanted to hear what Lady Gaga, Bonnie Tyler or Dolly Parton sounded like if they’d been Medieval musicians? That’s what the Youtube channel Hildegard von Blingin’ (great name by the way) sets…