Do you think St. Andrews Sarcophagus could also be a stop on that circuit? It dates from the eight-century and also has a depiction of David.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Medieval England was never an "essentially homogenous country, with little diversity", and a certain anti-immigrant twitter thread is an example of why we need to expand definitions of "diversity" when thinking about the medieval past before it's coopted to exclude people in present. #medievalsky

I've started a 'Sword or Battle Hammer' savings jar to either buy a functional sword or a battle hammer. I feel as if this is taking me one step closer to becoming an actual medievalist.

If only that rabbit has a snail to run away on... Or to charge with...

... It probably wasn't even the warlords that went viking. It was probably men from the lower societal rungs who didn't have access to land who went viking.

... Or your brain is just soo used to get up at 4 in the god damn fucking morning that it just keeps waking up at that time even when there is no need to.

I confess I don’t understand the “dearth of sources is why it was the Dark Ages” argument. Where was the lack? Certainly not in Byzantium, or anywhere with Orthodox Christians for that matter. Certainly not in Romance. Arabic. Slavonic. Norse. Archaeology exists. What am I missing here? Saxon shit?

I have been very fortunate. The professor in my program is a materialist and an art historian so... there has been a good emphasis on the value of material culture and what it can say, which is a lot. I mean... the Crundale buckle, for example, is the 'fusion' of three identities.

Sweet! I actually understood it! Gratias!

Good luck. I get to tackle Latin next fall....

Even without written sources there are plenty of material objects that speak to art, culture, and ideas, interacting, mingling, and evolving, during what people such as Petrarch call the Dark Ages.
Finally, I get to use the course that kicked my mental health for something useful. lol.

Same!

We can blame Petrarch too, right? I really want to blame him for something. He cost me half a mark on an exam once.

Footnotes are the best notes. So neat. So organized. So less of a pain in the ass to look up.

Oh walking the Cumbrian coast would be a dream! Have you seen any of the Dearham material on Sketchfab?

Thank you!

It is my dream, well one of my dreams, to go to Dearham and spend a day or two, or three, or more, just going through and looking at everything at the church.

Looks like I will finish the semester with an A average. Not bad considering I bawled my eyes out in the second week of the semester because I realized I had bitten off far too much and feared I would crash and burn.

And yet they will still call Trudeau and the Liberals socialists, communists, and leftists. Even though the Liberals will bow down to capitalism every single time.

Disgusted Canada Post strikers maintain picket line until the last minute before returning to work | CBC News Angry Canada Post employees in St. John's maintained their picket line Tuesday morning until precisely the moment they were ordered to return to work.

What is the point of striking it your employer will just force you and your co-workers back to work? Canadians should be disgusted and worried at this violation of the collective bargaining process. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Congratulations to Campbell Dowler for the research, writing and oral defense of your honours essay: Ekphrasis and Chivalry in Middle English Literature!

Has anyone taken the IES Introduction to Latin Palaeography short course online? I need a refresher and am trying to decide if that’s the best option. #medievalsky

Ah. Yeah the person who I am taking free Latin classes with uses 'Salvete' as both a greeting and a farewell to the class. I am basically following his lead.

Curses! Well there is always 2026 and from what Dr. Mitchell has said he is planning a big conference for that year because the program will get the Landsdowne funding.
The MSCU is also hoping to do a student led conference as well, but we will see.

I am 99% sure this is Latin but... my Latin is not that good, yet.

Check out this awesome in person and virtual (Zoom) medieval conference that is hosted by @uvic-medi.bsky.social.

Cover of Richard Frye's translation of the Rihlah of Ibn Fadlan

Testing BlueSky’s capacity for historical threads!

A thread about my recent paper on Ibn Fadlan, (not) the Vikings, & 10th c. Eurasian trade & diplomacy.

Read if you like medieval history, Middle Eastern history, Iranian history, numismatics, economic history, & investigative historiography! 1/?

As of 35 minutes ago, my semester has come to a close. I've survived.

... And the building is one of this favourite examples of Victorian Medievalism in my city. Fuck. The pressure just went up ten fold.